US loses to France 83-76, 25-game Olympic win streak ends

United States’ forward Kevin Durant (7) and France’s Evan Fournier, right, fight for control of the ball during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

United States’ Keldon Johnson (4) drives around France’s Vincent Poirier during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

France’s Vincent Poirier tries to block a shot by United States’ Jrue Holiday (12) during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

United States’ forward Kevin Durant (7) drives around France’s Evan Fournier (10) during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

United States’ Jayson Tatum (10) is fueled by France’s Rudy Gobert (27) during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

United States’ Jrue Holiday, left, fights for a loose ball with France’s Thomas Heurtel during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

France’s Rudy Gobert drives past United States’ Draymond Green, left, during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

United States’ guard Devin Booker, center, falls as he is fouled by France’s Rudy Gobert (27) during a men’s basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — For the first time since 2004, the U.S. men’s basketball team has lost in the Olympics. And the Americans’ quest for a fourth consecutive gold medal is already in serious trouble.

France — the team that knocked the Americans out of contention in the Basketball World Cup two years ago — dealt the U.S. a major blow once again. Evan Fournier’s 3-pointer with just under a minute left put France ahead to stay in what became a 83-76 win over the Americans on Sunday in the opening game for both teams at the Tokyo Olympics.

The U.S. had won 25 consecutive Olympic games, last losing at the Athens Games 17 years ago and settling for a bronze medal there.

Fournier had 28 points for France, while Rudy Gobert scored 14 and Nando de Colo had 13. Jrue Holiday had 18 points for the U.S., Bam Adebayo had 12, Damian Lillard 11 and Kevin Durant had 10 for the Americans — who are just 2-3 in their games this summer, the first four of them exhibitions in Las Vegas that weren’t supposed to mean much.

The Olympics, they were supposed to be different.

They weren’t. Going back to the World Cup in China two years ago, the Americans are 3-5 in their last eight games with NBA players in the lineup.

A 10-point U.S. lead in the third quarter was wasted, and so was a 12-point barrage from Holiday in the opening 4 ½ minutes of the fourth quarter as the Americans went from six points down to start the period to six points up with 5:23 remaining.