FIBA World Cup 2019: Team USA defeats Poland for 7th-place finish

Team USA’s disappointing run in the FIBA World Cup came to a close Saturday with an 87-74 victory over Poland to claim seventh place.

Published : Sep 14, 2019 18:23 IST

Donovan Mitchell (5)
Donovan Mitchell (5)
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Donovan Mitchell (5)

Team USA’s disappointing run in the FIBA World Cup in China came to a close Saturday with an 87-74 victory over Poland to claim seventh place.

Five players scored in double figures for the Americans, led by Donovan Mitchell with 16 points and 10 assists. Joe Harris scored 14 points, and Khris Middleton had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Derrick White, starting in place of injured Kemba Walker (neck) added 12 points, and Harrison Barnes scored 10.

Team USA's finish was its worst in major international competition, and Team USA coach Gregg Popovich has not been pleased with the criticism the team has received.

"Some people want to play the blame game, there's no blame to be placed anywhere," Popovich said after the game, per ESPN. "They want to play the shame game, like we should be ashamed because we didn't win a gold medal? That's a ridiculous attitude. It's immature, it's arrogant, and it shows that whoever thinks that doesn't respect all the other teams in the world and doesn't respect that these guys did the best they could.

"Their effort was fantastic. ... You give people credit for what they did, and that's it. But it's not a blame and shame game, that's ridiculous."

Poland, playing in its first World Cup since 1967, was paced by Mateusz Ponitka (18 points), Adam Waczynski (17 points) and A.J. Slaughter (15 points).

Team USA broke open a tight game with a 10-0 run to close out the first quarter for a 28-14 lead.

Poland rallied in the second half, getting as close as seven points — 54-47 with 4:07 left in the third quarter. But the Americans responded with a 9-2 run and led 63-55 going into the fourth quarter.

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