FIBA Basketball World Cup: US suffers second loss in as many days
A young Team USA made up of second-tier NBA stars was defeated 89-79 in the quarterfinals by France on Wednesday, bringing a premature close to their World Cup defence.
Published : Sep 12, 2019 19:20 IST
Deposed champion the United States lost 94-89 to Serbia in a dead-rubber at the Basketball World Cup on Thursday, a day after surrendering its 13-year unbeaten run.
A young Team USA made up of second-tier NBA stars was defeated 89-79 in the quarterfinals by France on Wednesday, bringing a premature close to their World Cup defence.
More significantly, it was the reigning world and Olympic champion's first defeat in a major competition since the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
Thursday's “classification” game in Dongguan was the final that never was: the holder against the favourite.
The US was headed for a humiliating second loss in as many days, down a scarcely believable 32-7 after the first quarter.
The Americans, who have already qualified for next summer's Tokyo Olympics, failed to score a point during one barren five-minute period.
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A rout was on the cards for Serbia, whose tournament also came to a surprise quarterfinal end, at the hands of Argentina.
The Americans' 70-year-old coach Gregg Popovich chewed his lip and brooded.
But the US fought back in the second quarter and reduced the deficit to just four points at half-time.
Going into the fourth quarter, Serbia -- led once more by the Sacramento Kings' Bogdan Bogdanovic -- was only three points ahead.
But with nothing but pride to play for, the US comeback fell narrowly short. It has another classification match on Saturday.
Bogdanovic, who has been one of the players of the tournament, led all scoring with 28 points.
For the Americans, Harrison Barnes had 22 points.
In Friday's semifinals, Spain plays Australia and France takes on Argentina.