France has upset the United States, ending their 58-game winning streak in International tournaments with NBA players on its roster.
France controlled the game in the first half behind strong play from their NBA guys Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier. The United States went on a run in the third quarter led by Donovan Mitchell, but couldn't carry that momentum through the fourth quarter.
France made one final push midway through the fourth and USA had no answer, as the French will advance to the Semi-Finals where they will take on Argentina for a chance to reach the gold medal match.
For live updates, highlights and more from today's matchup, we had you covered below!
Final: France 89, United States 79
France's fourth quarter run holds as they fend off the United States to advance to the Quarter-Finals.
Evan Fournier (22 points) and Rudy Gobert (21 points) were unstoppable for France. Fournier buried four 3-pointers while Gobert dominated the glass with 16 rebounds and also finished with three blocks. Down the stretch it was Frank Ntilikina who came up with a clutch five points, finishing with 11 points for the contest.
For the United States, Donovan Mitchell went off with 29 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals but failed to score after a massive third quarter. USA couldn't overcome Kemba Walker's struggles shooting 2-for-9 from the field and as a team, they missed a number of key free throws down the stretch of the contest shooting 14-for-21 from the charity stripe for the game.
FINAL: 🇫🇷 France 89, 🇺🇸 USA 79
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) September 11, 2019
Tough one. We'll take on Serbia tomorrow in Dongguan.#USAGotGame pic.twitter.com/WQMrhq7mel
France leads 84-78 with 42 seconds to play. Kemba Walker heads to the free throw line for three attempts to try and lead this comeback. Rudy Gobert came up with a pair of massive blocks on back-to-back possessions to hold down the paint for the French.
France is on an 11-0 run to take an 82-76 lead with under two minutes remaining. Frank Ntilikina knocked down a prayer of a long-two to extend the French's lead.
Rudy Gobert throws down a thunderous dunk that puts France up 80-76 with 2:52 to play. Timeout United States.
France has gone on a run of its own to tie this game up at 76-76 with 3:40 remaining. Frank Ntilikina drained a big 3-pointer to tie things up. Kemba Walker continues to struggle for the United States, shooting 1-for-6 from the field and has four fouls.
The United States continues to grow its lead at 72-65 with eight minutes left in the game. They're coming up with stops and have made good progress on the glass on both ends of the floor.
End of third quarter: United States 66, France 63
Donovan Mitchell has willed the United States into a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter. The star guard has 29 points shooting 12-for-20 from the field with three 3-pointers. The Boston Celtics tandem of Marcus Smart (11 points) and Jaylen Brown (9 points) also helped lead the third quarter charge to give USA the lead.
Rudy Gobert was dominating the contest and USA head coach Gregg Popovich elected to go small, forcing France to play under the USA's terms.
Gobert has a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds while Evan Fournier has yet to cool off with 20 points and four 3-pointers.
Donovan Mitchell (29 PTS) scores 14 in the 3rd to put @usabasketball in front! #USAGotGame
— NBA (@NBA) September 11, 2019
End of Q3:
🇺🇸 66
🇫🇷 63
📺: ESPN2
💻: https://t.co/0Z6IvIscto
Winner goes to the @FIBAWC Semis! pic.twitter.com/fLUF5Tct9V
The United States have their first lead since the second quarter at 63-62 with under two mintues to go in the quarter after three made free throws from Marcus Smart. He's up to 11 points off the bench for Team USA.
A huge stretch from the United States as they cut France's lead to 60-58 with 3:21 to go in the frame. Donovan Mitchell scored seven points, Khris Middleton buried a 3-pointer, Marcus Smart converted an and-1 and Jaylen Brown had a strong take to the rack to make instant offence for Team USA.
New half, same story – the USA have no answer for Rudy Gobert or Evan Fournier. France leads 53-43 with 7:30 to go in the quarter. Gobert ripped down an offensive rebound leading to a Fournier layup to force the United States to take a timeout. Kemba Walker is on the bench in foul trouble with three fouls.
Halftime: France 45, United States 39
France's haltime lead is courtesy of Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert, who have 13 points each. Gobert already has 10 free throw attempts in the game, putting the pressure on the United States around the rim. Fournier is shooting with confidence, going 5-for-11 from the field.
Donovan Mitchell has been attacking aggressively for Team USA with a game-high 15 points to go with three assists and three boards. The United States are being out-rebounded 21-12, which has been the major factor in this halftime deficit.
HALF: 🇫🇷 France 45, 🇺🇸 USA 39
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) September 11, 2019
Work to do in the second half. @spidadmitchell leads all scorers with 15 pts. #USAGotGame pic.twitter.com/LyYzARJ85B
France leads 39-33 with 1:58 left in the half and Evan Fournier is on fire. The French guard is up to 13 points shooting 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert is imposing his will in the paint with nine points on five free throws with five rebounds. For Team USA, Donovan Mitchell is up to 11 points doing his best to keep things close.
.@spidadmitchell 🕷 steps back as @usabasketball 🇺🇸 fight back! #USAFRA
— Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) September 11, 2019
📽 https://t.co/U6RPjx3FuZ#FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/ZoEXfVkunA
Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier continue to dominate with seven points apiece for France as they lead USA 31-29 with under four minutes remaining in the half.
A 7-0 run midway through the quarter built a 29-27 lead for the United States behind an and-1 from Jaylen Brown and four more points from Donovan Mitchell.
End of first quarter: United States 18, France 18
We're all tied up after one frame. Donovan Mitchell and Marcus Smart have five points apiece to lead the United States in scoring. For France, it's Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier with five points apiece to keep things even.
Kemba Walker's three turnovers is a game-high, contributing to USA's five first quarter turnovers against France's full-court pressure.
1Q: 🇺🇸 USA 18, 🇫🇷 France 18@smart_MS3 with 5 pts. in the first quarter.
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) September 11, 2019
🇺🇸 #USAGotGame pic.twitter.com/TZ6qftHnl2
Marcus Smart checked in and scored five quick points to keep the United States rolling. Evan Fournier has five points of his own for France, getting shots up early and often. Team USA leads 18-16 with just over a minute remaining in the quarter.
Donovan Mitchell is doing a little bit of everything for the United States to get this game started. He scored the team's first five points and dished an assist to Joe Harris for an open 3-pointer to get Team USA out to an 8-6 lead with 5:45 remaining in the first.
Pregame
Team USA will start Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Harris, Harrison Barnes and Myles Turner.
France will start Frank Ntilikina, Amath M'Baye, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum and Rudy Gobert.
Both teams are ready to get this game underway!
.@usabasketball 🇺🇸 and @FRABasketball 🇫🇷 are ready to go! #USAFRA
— Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) September 11, 2019
📽 https://t.co/U6RPjx3FuZ pic.twitter.com/dQZGUPXBWi
Though there has not been a formal announcement, it appears the United States will be without Jayson Tatum for another contest.
Team USA has not made a formal announcement on Jayson Tatum’s availability for tonight’s game against France ... but only 11 @usabasketball players are warming up with 20 minutes to go before tipoff
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 11, 2019