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USA basketball opened up exhibition play ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a stunning loss to Nigeria, leading to more pressure on the team as the Games draw closer. USA will still have some exhibition opportunities to get right and iron out the wrinkles.
Here’s USA basketball’s full exhibition schedule and results ahead of the Olympics. All games will be available on NBC Sports Network and via live stream at NBCSports.com/live.
July 10: Nigeria 90, USA 87
Team USA was anywhere from a 28- to 29.5-point favorite to win. Instead Nigeria became the first basketball team from the African continent to defeat Team USA. Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent was 6-of-8 3-pointers and had 21 points for Nigeria, and the team had 21 assists as a whole. Nigeria started KZ Okpala, Gabe Vincent, Precious Achiuwa, Josh Okogie, and Ike Nwamu.
July 12: Australia 91, USA 83
Team USA was a 17.5-point favorite to win at DraftKings Sportsbook. The team led by eight in the first quarter and built their lead to 11 before halftime. However, Australia closed the third quarter on a 19-6 run and held Team USA without a field goal for the final 4:34 of the game to secure the win. Patty Mills led Australia with 22 points and Joe Ingles added 17. Damian Lillard led the US with 22 points and Kevin Durant added 17 of his own.
July 13: USA 108, Argentina 80
Team USA finally got an exhibition win, thumping Argentina with relative ease. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal led the team with 17 points apiece, and the starting lineup had double digits across the board. Luis Scola led Argentina with 16 points.
July 16: USA vs. Australia — cancelled
July 18: USA 83, Spain 76
Damian Lillard led Team USA with 19 points and the team finished the exhibition schedule with some solid player after a shaky first half of the slate. Spain has the third best odds behind the US and Australia to win the gold in Tokyo.