Top favorite USA conceded their first defeat at the Basketball World Cup and gambled away their group win in the second round.
Head coach Steve Kerr’s team lost 104:110 (37:54) against co-favorite Lithuania in Manila on Sunday and is only second in the group.
The USA had previously won all nine games this summer. The narrowest victory up to Sunday was a 99:91 against the German team in preparation in Abu Dhabi.
Twelve NBA players on board with USA
As usual, the US team consists of twelve NBA players, but has to do without big names like Kevin Durant, James Harden or Stephen Curry. Instead, Kerr is building on a diverse team with many talents around winger Anthony Edwards, the best scorer against Lithuania with 35 points.
The USA will face Italy in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. Lithuania takes on Serbia, Canada meets Slovenia and Germany plays Latvia.
The tournament is over for the defending champion. World champion Spain surprisingly eliminated after an 85:88 defeat against Canada.
2023-09-03 16:51:15
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