Nigeria upsets U.S. men in the opener to Olympic season
Nigeria upsets the U.S., 90-87 in the first men’s hoops exhibition behind former Santa Barbara star Gabe Vincent.
NIGERIA 90
UNITED STATES 87
LAS VEGAS — This is not how USA Basketball expected to open its Olympic summer.
Nigeria probably didn’t expect it, either.
If there was any expectation of invincibility for the Americans heading into the Tokyo Olympics, it’s already gone — after Nigeria stunned the U.S. 90-87 on Saturday night.
Nigeria pulled an international shocker with a roster primarily filled with little-known NBA players that found a way to beat a group of All-NBA, All-Star and max-contract performers.
“The Nigerian team played very physically, did a great job in that regard and knocked down a lot of threes,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said.
Gabe Nnamdi, a former UC Santa Barbara standout who goes by Gabe Vincent when playing for the Miami Heat, led Nigeria with 21 points. Caleb Agada scored 17 points, and Nigeria outscored the U.S. 60-30 from three-point range.
Kevin Durant, who had never played in a loss for USA Basketball in 39 senior international games, had 17 points. Jayson Tatum added 15, Damian Lillard 14.
“Just goes to show that we have to play better,” Tatum said.
The Americans had gone 39-0 in their last three Olympic seasons — including pre-Olympic exhibitions — on their way to gold medals and had been 54-2 in major exhibitions since NBA players began playing for USA Basketball in 1992. Plus, they’d beaten Nigeria by a combined 127 points in their last two meetings, one at the 2012 London Games, the other a warmup for the 2016 Rio Games.
Nigeria lost to the U.S. at the 2012 Olympics by 83 points. Lost again four years later in an exhibition, that time by 44. Not this time.
“Nigeria’s come a long way,” USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said.
The upset was of the massive variety, the nation ranked 22nd by FIBA beating the No. 1 team and threetime reigning Olympic gold medalists.
In the late game, Patty Mills hit a three as time expired, giving Australia an 8784 win over Argentina.