France hands USA stunning 83-76 loss

From Kels Dayton at nba.com

Box Score

First quarter

The U.S. came out of the gates strong in the first quarter, outscoring France 22-15. Kevin Durant led the way with an early seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. Bam Adebayo added six in the first quarter. Fresh off of their teams’ runs to the NBA Finals, Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton and Phoenix’s Devin Booker all saw action early in the game.

Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum also got on the board for the United States.

Celtics forward Evan Fournier scored eight first-quarter points for France.

Second quarter

Team USA kept France at arm’s length throughout much of the first half, leading by as many as ten points. They went into the break with a 45-37 advantage. Nine different players got on the board in the first half for the Americans, led by Bam Adebayo with 10 points. The Miami Heat forward shot 4-of-5 from the floor and also pulled down four rebounds.

Kevin Durant had seven points on 3-of-5 shooting at the break. Damian Lillard had nine points on 3-of-7 shooting.

Evan Fournier was the top scorer for France in the first half, putting up 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Rudy Gobert had nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Both teams struggled from the three-point line during the first 20 minutes. The U.S. shot 6-of-16 from distance, while France was a miserable 1-for-11. The U.S. shot 17-for-37 overall, while France was 15-for-32.

France outrebounded the Americans, 16-15 in the first half.

Third quarter

France dominated the third quarter, outscoring the United States 25-11 and taking a 62-56 lead into the fourth. The French went on a 22-7 run to close the third, and took the lead twice on three-pointers from former Spurs and Raptors guard Nando De Colo.

Kevin Durant sat much of the quarter with four personal fouls. Under FIBA rules, players are disqualified with five.

A three-point play by former Celtics forward Vincent Poirier tied the game at 52 with 3:58 to go in the quarter.

A 7-0 France run closed them to within 49-47 with 5:30 to go. Evan Fournier caught fire, scoring 10 points in the first five minutes of the quarter and pushing his game-high total to 22.

France heated up from deep, shooting 5-of-9 from three-point range in the third.

Only Jrue Holiday and Bam Adebayo had reached double figures in scoring for the U.S. entering the fourth.

Fourth quarter

France finished the game on a 16-2 run to come away with an 83-76 win over the United States.

Evan Fournier scored a game-high 28 points in the win.

It was the United States’ first loss in Olympic competition since a 2004 defeat at the hands of Argentina.

Fournier drained a three-pointer to give France a 76-74 lead with under a minute to play. The U.S. missed several opportunities to tie or take the lead on the ensuing possession.

The United States shot just 4-for-18 in the fourth quarter and were outscored 46-31 in the second half.

A big fourth quarter from Jrue Holiday had gotten the U.S. back in front after France had taken the lead. Holiday was up to a team-high 18 points with 4:30 to go in the game. The U.S. had taken as many as a seven-point lead after an 18-8 run in the quarter.

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