A USA team led by 11-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant were beaten 83-76 by France in a huge Olympic basketball upset on Sunday.

The French, with a team containing NBA players including Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, inflicted the Americans’ first defeat at an Olympics since the 2004 Athens Games.

Durant was held to just 10 points in the first-round game and was unable to inspire his team as the French came from behind to take control in the final quarter.

The Americans had looked rusty in the build-up to Tokyo, losing to Nigeria in a warm-up game, and the defeat will underline Durant’s fears expressed before the Games that his side will not face a “cakewalk” in Japan.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

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