Team USA stunned Nigeria with a rare basketball loss ahead of the Tokyo Olympics

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Las Vegas – Team USA suffered a stunning and sobering defeat in their first exhibition match before the Olympics, as Nigeria beat them in a 90-87 loss on Saturday night.

Entering the game, the Americans had been 54-2 in the exhibition games since the Pros began playing in 1992, and just nine years ago they beat Nigeria by 83 points at the London Olympics. Five years ago, Team USA beat Nigeria by 43 points in an exhibition.

Nigeria has seven players currently in the NBA, and this talent has emerged, especially in physical defense and 3-point shooting. But the Americans started with five All-NBA players and couldn’t take on a team that seemed to play more together, a common challenge in international competition.

“In a way I’m glad it happened,” said Team USA coach Gregg Popovich. “It doesn’t mean anything if we don’t learn from him. It might be the most important thing in this tournament for us. To learn lessons from this.”

Team USA came with just four days of training this week, and Friday was light training without a squabble. Nigeria met for the first time on June 20 and the whole team has been together since June 27. difference appeared.

When the pressure arrived – as Nigeria overcame a 10-point deficit and made clear that there was a potential for turmoil ahead – the Americans tightened and began playing a very isolated attack. But with players like Damien Lillard, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, Team USA has some of the best isolation players in the world.

But the three were rusty and bothered by the size of the opponent and combined to shoot 9 of 30. Durant finished with 17 points but only hit 2 of his first 11 shots. Bale played poorly, going 1 of 7, and Lillard didn’t have his usual charm late in the game because he missed several open looks.

“None of us have played with each other before, we’re just trying to figure it out,” said Jason Tatum, who scored 15 points and seven rebounds. “We don’t have three to four weeks. That’s good for us, we will learn a lot from the film and we will regroup.”

After falling by eight points less than two minutes from the end of the game, Team USA made a sharp protest and got the ball twice with a chance of a tie, but their execution was poor. After Popovic called his last timeout with 13 seconds to play, the ensuing possession was chaotic and Team USA couldn’t even shoot.

“I don’t think anyone should act, we won’t act, this is the end of the world,” Popovich said. “It’s about everyone else who deserves so much recognition, and we have to play our part to do that.”

Nigeria made 20 of 42 3-pointers, repeatedly working her way through Team USA’s laps while notching 21 assists. Goalkeeper Gabi Vincent, who plays for the Miami Heat and is succeeded by Gabi Nnamdi when he was with Nigeria, made 6 of 8 3-pointers and finished the season with 21 points. Caleb Agada, who plays in the Israeli league and will soon play in the summer league with the Denver Nuggets, scored 17 points from the bench.

“It was a show and at the end of the day it doesn’t mean much in the standings,” said Nigeria coach Mike Brown, the current Golden State Warriors assistant. “But it’s a good win for us. I don’t think any African team has ever beaten USA Basketball.”

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