France handed the U.S. men's basketball team its first Olympic loss since 2004 in an 83-76 upset. Team USA was in a position to win the game with a 74-67 lead with 3:41 left in the fourth quarter, but France closed out the game on a 16-2 run to secure the victory.
Evan Fournier led Team France with 28 points, including a three-pointer with 57-seconds left that gave France a 76-74 lead. Jrue Holiday, who just arrived in Tokyo after celebrating an NBA Championship with the Milwaukee Bucks, led Team USA with 18 points. Kevin Durant was held to just ten points on 4-12 shooting and found himself in early foul trouble in one of his worst games as an Olympian.
After the game, Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich seemed irritated when asked if he was surprised about the loss.
"There's nothing to be surprised about," Popovich said. "When you lose a game, you're not surprised. You're disappointed, but I don't understand the word surprised. That sort of disses the French team, so to speak, as if we're supposed to beat them by 30 or something. That's a hell of a team."
Team USA's next game will be against Iran on Wednesday at 12:40 a.m. E.T. They will also play the Czech Republic during pool play and most likely have to win both games to advance to the medal round.
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