US Men's Basketball Olympic 26-Game Winning Streak Ends... Caught by France

Ace Kevin Durant Limited to 10 Points

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The United States men's basketball team suffered a bitter defeat in their first game of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On the 25th, at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, they lost 76-83 to France in the Group A opening match. This marks the first Olympic loss for the U.S. men's basketball team in 17 years since the 2004 Athens semifinals against Argentina (81-89). Since then, the U.S. achieved three consecutive undefeated championships at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

The winning streak that began with the 3rd-4th place match at the 2004 Athens Games ended after 25 consecutive victories. Jrue Holiday contributed 18 points and 7 rebounds, but the ace Kevin Durant was limited to 10 points. Damian Lillard and Draymond Green also scored only 11 and 2 points respectively. On the other hand, France was led offensively by Evan Fournier with 28 points. Rudy Gobert dominated the paint, contributing 14 points and 9 rebounds.

With 57 seconds remaining in the game, Fournier received a pass from Guerschon Yabusele and made a three-pointer to take the lead at 76-74. Durant's three-point attempt failed, and Bam Adebayo and Zach LaVine also missed their two-point shots, failing to overturn the result. Free throws were allowed to Nicolas Batum and Gobert, leading to the defeat. The next opponent is Iran on the 28th.