America’s men’s basketball team lost its first major-competition game in 13 years on Wednesday, as France — led by Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert — rallied for an 89-79 victory at the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals played in China.
France’s stunning victory, in the southern city of Dongguan, ended a 58-game Team USA winning streak in Olympics, World Cup and FIBA Americas play, dating back to Greece’s victory over the Americans in the 2006 World Cup semifinals.
Team USA will leave China without a medal.
Gobert scored 21 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds the victorious French, who out-muscled America to a 44-28 advantage on the boards.
France trailed, 74-67, with 7 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter before going on a 22-5 to end the game.
Evan Fournier, who plays for the Orlando Magic, made a driving layup with 3:23 left, giving France a 78-76 lead that his team would not relinquish.
America’s top scorer was Gobert’s Jazz teammate, Donovan Mitchell, who poured in a game-high 29 points.
The loss wasn’t a total surprise as Team USA showed its vulnerability in a pre-tournament exhibition loss to Australia. And with the long NBA season, many of America’s top stars chose not to play in this tournament.