The United States' men's Olympic basketball team—historically the best during the contest—suffered its first loss in nearly 20 years during the Tokyo Olympic Games on Sunday.
The U.S. Men’s Basketball Team, which hasn't suffered a defeat since 2004, saw its 44-game win streak come to an end after losing to France in an 83-76 loss.
Team USA's biggest stars, Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard, both shot poorly and combined for 21 points during the whole game. Jrue Holiday led Team USA with 18 points, coming off an NBA Finals victory with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Evan Fournier led France with 28 points and four rebounds, while fellow France star Rudy Gobert added 14 points and nine rebounds.
"The final three were wide-open 3-point attempts by Zach LaVine, Kevin Durant, and Jrue Holiday," the analysis said. "Team USA, loaded with offensive talent and built to be the best shooting team in the tournament, didn't make a basket for the last 4½ minutes," it added. "Over and over the Americans got open looks, and over and over they missed them. The team has various chemistry and timing challenges, but horrid execution cost it badly in this one."
Team USA hadn't lost an Olympic contest since 2004 when it suffered a defeat against Argentina during the Athens Games. In 2004, the Americans finished with three losses and finished with the bronze medal.
The team will attempt to bounce back with a Wednesday game against the Iranian national team and will finish up their group play against the Czech Republic on Friday. France, meanwhile, will play Iran and Czech Republic this week.
Since 1992, the United States is 53-4 including its recent loss to France.
The Tokyo Olympics, meanwhile, is poised to see major ratings declines as compared with previous Games.
The International Olympic Committee last year decided to postpone the 2020 Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this year's contests are occurring without spectators. Tokyo, meanwhile, is 13 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast.