Defending champions Team USA suffered another loss at the FIBA Basketball World Cup at the hands of Serbia, 94-89 in a dead rubber match.
Prior to this, Team USA, which was made up of second-tier NBA stars, surrendered their 13-year win streak when France defeated them 89-79 in the World Cup quarterfinals. It was the first loss of Team USA since the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
The U.S. and Serbian teams were the favorites to face in the World Cup finals but both ended up playing in a dead rubber game. After the first quarter, Team USA trailed 32-7 before climbing back to reduce the deficit. Despite the loss to France and Serbia at the FIBA World Cup, USA has already qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Sacramento Kings' Harrison Barnes, who was part of the 2016 Rio Olympics championship team, claimed "There are no regrets from our group in terms of what we've given, what we've sacrificed. The commitment everyone has made away from their families, their teams, their organisations."
Prior to the World Cup, Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic commented "May god help them" if Team USA faces his team. He later dismissed the comment as motivational irony but said that the US team seemed to be still shocked with their loss to France. In the first quarter of the game, the Gregg Popovich-led team did not score a single point in a stretch of five minutes.
Entering the fourth quarter, Serbia was only up by three points but the US team's rally back fell short down the stretch. Former Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic led all scorers with 28 points while Barnes had 22 points. Team USA will close the tournament with a game against the loser of the match between the Czech Republic and Poland.
Barnes added "On Saturday we have that opportunity to go out once again, play a game, represent our country. For some of us -- potentially all of us -- it could be our last time we wear a USA jersey, or the beginning of many."
