Team USA, full of stars, suffered a defeat to Nigeria (87:90) in preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The Americans entered the match with 52 wins and only two defeats in friendly matches. At the 2012 London Olympics, the United States beat Nigeria with 83 points (156-73), five years earlier with 43 points.
Head coach Greg Popovich started the match with a preliminary five consisting of Bradley Bell, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Jason Tatum and Pam Adebayo. Since Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Kris Middelton are still active in the NBA Finals, the list has been filled with three selected players.
Team USA, who trained for four days this week, played a lot of isolation. But the stars have had problems with the size of Nigerians. After Popovic took his last timeout 13 seconds ago, the ensuing ball possession was chaotic and yielded no points. So the team missed the opportunity to equalize.
Gabe Vincent led Nigeria, which had 12 NBA players in its 49-player training camp in California, with 21 points. The team was coached by Mike Brown, Golden State Warriors assistant. Nigeria is currently ranked 22nd by FIBA. At the Olympics, Nigeria will meet Australia, Italy and Germany in Group B.
Basketball at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo: groups
| Group A | group b | group C |
| United States of America | Australia | Argentina |
| France | Nigeria | Japan |
| Iran | Germany | Slovenia |
| Czech Republic | Italy | Spain |
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