Team USA's men's basketball team tipped off the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo with a disappointing 83-76 loss to France in the preliminary group stage round. The loss marks the United States' first Olympic defeat since 2004 when it fell to both Puerto Rico and Lithuania in group play. It also snapped a 25-game Olympic winning streak for the U.S. It's the United States' second straight loss to France in international play, as the French also prevailed in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. However, it's the first time Team USA has ever lost to France in Olympic play, as it was previously 6-0 in the matchup.
Evan Fournier led the way for France with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the floor, while Rudy Gobert added 14 points and nine rebounds of his own. As a team, France shot an impressive 47 percent from the floor. It outscored the U.S. 46-31 in the second half, and went on an impressive 16-2 run to close out the game and secure the win.
Jrue Holiday, fresh off helping propel the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA championship, led Team USA with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the loss. Bam Adebayo also added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the U.S., which will now have to regroup before facing off against Iran in their second game in group play on Wednesday.
The 12 teams that are competing in the Olympics are split into three groups and every team within a group faces the other three teams from the group for a total of three games in the group stage. The teams that finish in first and second place in each group will advance into the quarterfinals, along with the two best third-place teams overall. So, while the loss to France isn't ideal for the U.S., it doesn't end its chances of winning a fourth consecutive gold medal.
Here's a look at three key takeaways from France's upset of the United States.
There was no shortage of star power on the court for the contest between the United States and France. The U.S. roster has a plethora of NBA All-Stars, champions and a former league MVP in Kevin Durant, and the French team has the NBA's reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert. However, the best player on the floor during this game was Evan Fournier.
Fournier hit big bucket after big bucket for France, and ultimately his production was a major determining factor in the contest. In all, he finished with a game-high 28 points while shooting 50 percent from the floor (11 of 22). He also knocked down four 3s and grabbed four rebounds. He hit a 3 with just a minute remaining to put France up 76-74, and they were able to hold onto the lead from there.
After the game, Fournier provided an honest assessment of Team USA. "They are better individually but they can be beaten as a team," he said. Based on this game, he obviously isn't wrong.
If Fournier can continue to produce points efficiently like he did against the U.S., France will have a chance to make some real noise in Tokyo. Plus, Fournier is set for unrestricted free agency in the NBA over the offseason. It will be interesting to see how his performance in the Olympics impacts his market value, if at all.
Jrue Holiday has had a whirlwind of a week. He helped the Milwaukee Bucks win their first NBA title in 50 years on Tuesday, celebrated with the city on Thursday and then flew out to Tokyo to join Team USA ahead of their matchup against France. Given the fact that Holiday was fresh off a deep postseason run and didn't have an opportunity to play -- or practice -- with Team USA, some expected coach Gregg Popovich to ease him into action early on in Olympic play. That wasn't the case.
Against France, Holiday played more minutes (27:52) than anyone else on Team USA, and he also scored the most points on the team (18). Holiday was especially effective in the fourth quarter of the contest, where he recorded 12 of his 18 points:
Unfortunately for the U.S., Holiday's production wasn't enough for them to pull out a win, though it's clear that he will be integral to the team's success moving forward.
The other two players who basically went straight from the Finals to Tokyo -- Khris Middleton and Devin Booker -- didn't fare quite as well as Holiday against France. Middleton went scoreless in just five minutes of action, while Booker played 18 minutes but scored just four points of 1-of-6 shooting from the floor. Perhaps fatigue played a bigger factor for those two than it did for Holiday.
It was a rough game all around for the United States, and that's illustrated by the fact that several of the team's key contributors recorded as many, or more, personal fouls than made field goals against France:
It's tough to win a game in the Olympics when nearly half of your roster has as many fouls as shots made. As a team, the United States shot just 36 percent from the floor, compared to 47 percent from France. In a game that was decided by seven points, this made a big difference.
Moving forward, the U.S. will need to convert shots at a higher clip in order to give itself a better chance of pulling out wins. Given the talent on the team, that shouldn't be too tall of a task.
France closed the game on a 16-2 run to pull off the upset over Team USA. Including exhibition games, Team USA has now lost 3 of the 5 games that it has played so far. Not super encouraging for them.
France outscored the U.S. 46-31 in the second half to pull off the upset over Team USA. The U.S. is going to have to regroup after this game.
And that's a wrap. France pulls out a 83-76 victory over Team USA to kick off group play at the Olympics. It was an extremely impressive performance from the French squad. Evan Fournier led the way for France with 28 points and 4 rebounds. Jrue Holiday paced the U.S. with 18 points and 7 rebounds.
If Team USA goes on to lose this game, as it sure looks like they will, their 24-game Olympic win streak will be snapped. Not exactly how the U.S. was hoping to start out Olympic play.
Team USA had an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead late, but they missed multiple wide open opportunities.
France is going to pull out this win. It will mark United States' first loss in group play since 2004 when it lost to both Puerto Rico and Lithuania. Not a great start to the Olympics for Team USA.
This one is coming down to the wire. With 23 second remaining, France leads the U.S. 76-74. They also have the ball. Let's see how this one turns out.
Considering the fact that he's fresh off of a deep NBA Finals run, Jrue Holiday's performance in this game has been extremely impressive. He leads the U.S. in points scored and minutes played.
Kevin Love likes what he has seen from Jrue Holiday in this game. Tough to blame him, as Holiday has been excellent for the U.S.
Jrue Holiday is making huge plays for Team USA on both ends of the floor. He has taken the game over in the fourth quarter, as he has 12 points in the 4th alone. He's up to 18 points in the game, which leads the U.S.
With just over 6 minutes remaining, the game is all knotted up at 63. We'll see which team wants this one more down the stretch, because this one could go either way.
Two players on the U.S. team have yet to see the court: Khris Middleton and Jerami Grant. Interesting decision by coach Popovich not to go to either guy, especially Middleton, who could give the U.S. some buckets.
Kevin Durant is back in the game for the U.S. to start the fourth quarter. Durant is playing with 4 fouls, which is just one foul away from a disqualification in Olympic play. He needs to be careful because the U.S. needs will need his offensive production down the stretch.
Out of all of the NBA All-Stars that have played in this game, Evan Fournier has been the best player in the game so far. Just as we all expected.
Really rough third quarter for Team USA. The U.S. scored just 11 total points in the third quarter, compared to 25 from France. The French lead the game 62-56 after 30 minutes of action. Evan Fournier leads all scorers in the game with 22 points through three quarters.
It's funny to see Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker play with each other after just having watched them go at it as opponents in the NBA Finals. That's one of the cool things about the Olympics -- getting to see guys that usually go against each other play together.
France has really stepped up the defense in the second half. They've outscored the U.S. 85-11 in the third quarter so far, and they're putting pressure on Team USA's perimeter players. France leads 55-54 with 2:33 remaining in the third.
The game is tied at 52. I repeat, the game is tied at 52. France has come out really strong in the third quarter so far. Kevin Durant being on the bench with four fouls doesn't help the U.S., either.
Evan Fournier is in the zone, The French guard is up to 22 points in the game on 9 of 15 shooting from the floor. He's the high-scorer in the game for both teams so far.
France continues to fight hard in this one. They had the lead down to 2, and then Jayson Tatum splashed a three. The U.S. is now up five midway through the third quarter.
Something to keep an eye on in the rest of this game: Kevin Durant is up to 4 fouls early in the third quarter. Unlike the NBA, it only takes 5 fouls to be disqualified in Olympic play. That means Durant is just one foul away from fouling out.
Evan Fournier starts the second half with a pair of triples for France. He's up to 18 points in the game. The U.S. will have to key in on Fournier moving forward, since he's been France's biggest weapon on the offensive end.
Second half action is underway in Japan. The French will have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and knocking down their 3's if they want to pull out a comeback over the final 20 minutes of the contest.
Here's a live action look at the robot from halftime. It takes a while to shoot, but it has some solid form. Strange to see.
So the halftime show at the Olympics apparently featured a robot that can knock down free throws. Someone tell Ben Simmons to watch his back.
France had a really rough first half from long range. They made just one of their 11 3-point attempts, which equates to just nine percent. On the other side, the U.S. knocked down six 3's on 16 attempts, which is good for 38 percent. That shooting could ultimately be a major difference-maker in this game if France doesn't pick it up.
