The US men’s basketball team avoided calamity after struggling against a Tony Parker-less France
8.07pm BST
Well, what did we learn from today’s game? Honestly, not much that we didn’t already know. This is a US team that’s clearly more talented than their opponents, but they’re not invulnerable. If they don’t play better in the upcoming elimination games, it wouldn’t even be a huge upset if they get knocked out at some point. In back to back games, the US have been able to survive partly because time ran out on their opponent’s comeback attempt. It’s probably particularly troubling that France was able to pressure them all game without Tony Parker playing a single second.
Maybe this is a tad too gloomy. With the win, the US has secured the top seed in the group and one has to think that they’ll raise their game once the real tournament play begins. We’ll see. That’s it for today’s US basketball coverage, but stick with the Guardian for literal around-the-clock coverage of the Rio Olympics. Thanks to everyone who followed along with this liveblog today, particularly those who contributed. Ciao!
8.00pm BST
USA 100-97 France, FINAL
The US takes a timeout to set up a final possession. Irving misses a three pointer, but at this point there’s not enough time for France to tie it. Diot hits a three pointer at the bucket and the US barely hang on. It’s their second straight game where they’ve won by merely three points.
7.56pm BST
USA 100-94 France, :33, 4th quarter
Except as soon as I type it, Batum makes two straight layups to cut the US lead down to just 6 points.
7.55pm BST
USA 100-90 France, 1:25, 4th quarter
But Carmelo Anthony settles things down with a three pointer. Maybe the key bucket of the game, considering where we are.
7.53pm BST
USA 95-88 France, 2:22, 4th quarter
Kyrie Irving does something super rare in this game: he makes two out of two free throws.
7.51pm BST
USA 91-83 France, 3:47, 4th quarter
Gelabale with another jumper, he’s secretly maybe been the player of the game. But now the clock’s starting to become a factor. France needs stops here.
7.49pm BST
USA 88-81 France, 4:29, 4th quarter
Kevin Durant has had enough of this.
7.47pm BST
USA 85-81 France, 5:27, 4th quarter
Klay Thompson tries to calm things down with a quick basket. It doesn’t last long. Lauvergne with a dunk! And a foul! The crowd is definitely on the underdog’s side here, cheering loudly.
7.45pm BST
USA 83-79 France, 6:09, 4th quarter
And the US need to take a timeout. Coming out of it, Lauvergne misses two free throws, so I guess that move paid off. (It’s like icing the kicker, sorta.)
7.42pm BST
USA 83-77 France, 7:17, 4th quarter
Irving on the line, makes two free throws. Lauvergne makes a jumper. DeRozan gets called for a travel which gets the ball back to France where Heurtel makes a layup and France Is Not Lying Down Here.
7.40pm BST
USA 81-73 France, 8:13, 4th quarter
Kim Tillie with a layup and, uh oh, this is now officially Interesting Times.
7.39pm BST
USA 81-71 France, 8:36, 4th quarter
A minute in and we finally get our first scoring. Gelabale hits a jumper and it’s just a 10 point US lead.
7.38pm BST
USA 81-69 France, 9:15, 4th quarter
The US win the jump ball but they immediately turn it over after getting a whistle. Lauvergne tries for a three and it’s no good. Lowry wrestles control of the ball. The uncharacteristically quiet Green tries and fails to hit a three pointer. Neither team starting this quarter crisp.
7.35pm BST
USA 81-69 France, end of the 3rd quarter
Gelabale hits a jumper, Jordan gets to the line and he hits one of two free throws, really the best case scenario with DeAndre, and that will do it for the scoring in the third quarter.
7.33pm BST
USA 80-67 France, :56, 3rd quarter
…but Kim Tille tips it in.
7.32pm BST
USA 80-65 France, 1:29, 3rd quarter
Well if you can’t stop Thompson from hitting threes, you can try hitting them yourself. Antoine Diot knocks down a three-pointer.
7.30pm BST
USA 78-62 France, 2:26, 3rd quarter
Of course it doesn’t matter if France keeps answering shots if Thompson keeps at this pace. He knocks down two more three pointers, bookending a DeAndre Jordan signature dunk, in the span of about a minute.
7.28pm BST
USA 70-62 France, 3:59, 3rd quarter
Some beautiful ball movement results in Thompson getting the ball, and Thompson is feeling it. He knocks down a three-pointer.
7.25pm BST
USA 67-59 France, 4:45, 3rd quarter
Kyrie Irving hits a jumper but Batum gets fouled and gets on the line and knocks down all three of his freebies.
7.24pm BST
USA 65-56 France, 5:00, 3rd quarter
Gobert with a layup, which gets Marv Albert to start gushing about his wingspan which is always super-creepy to me.
7.22pm BST
USA 65-52 France, 5:54, 3rd quarter
AND KLAY HITS HIS SECOND STRAIGHT THREE
7.21pm BST
USA 62-52 France, 6:15, 3rd quarter
Jordan comes in to spell Cousins, who has picked up another foul. Heurtel hits a jumper for France, hey maybe they don’t need Tony Parker after all.
7.19pm BST
USA 59-50 France, 7:04, 3rd quarter
Durant with a steal and a fastbreak dunk. He made it look so easy and effortless too.
7.18pm BST
USA 57-50 France, 8:03, 3rd quarter
Cousins gets called for a non-shooting foul. And De Colo makes a layup.
7.14pm BST
Difference in USA-France really comes down to benches. No U.S. starter has a plus-minus better than plus-2. Joffrey Lauvergne is minus-16!
Is that not optimal?
7.11pm BST
For the half, NBC is giving us a softball Usain Bolt interview. Which is fine, because it gives me a chance to link to this:
7.08pm BST
Email from Brian Tyacke:
I think it was a Freudian slip the mention Canada. We should be at the Olympics but thanks to a devastating loss to Venezuela those plans were squashed.
7.04pm BST
It's like no-one is playing D. A game for Harrison Barnes, surely #USAvFRA #Olympics #basketball @HunterFelt
I have a feeling we won’t see Barnes until this is decided, one way or another.
7.03pm BST
Halftime thoughts
The US have been the better team here so far, but not by enough. France are still in this. It’s hard to tell how this game is going to go until we see how both teams come out of the half.
7.00pm BST
USA 55-46 France, end of the fist half
Paul George holds for the last shot… and holds… and holds… and just gets the ball off in time, a jumper that comes up short and that’s how the first half will end.
6.58pm BST
USA 55-46 France, :26, 2nd quarter
DeAndre Jordan with a dunk. DeAndre giveth. DeAndre’s foul then puts Kim Tillie on the line where he makes both free throws. DeAndre taketh away.
6.57pm BST
USA 53-44 France, :50, 2nd quarter
The USA’s scoring run continues with an Irving layup but De Colo ends France’s scoring drought with one of his own.
6.55pm BST
USA 50-42 France, 2:08, 2nd quarter
Rudy Gobert with a dunk. He’s known for his defense, but he can score too.
6.53pm BST
USA 47-40 France, 2:59, 2nd quarter
But De Colo fouls Thompson past the three-point line and this time Klay knocks down all three of those.
6.51pm BST
USA 44-40 France, 3:30, 2nd quarter
COLO-BLOODED. Nando De Colo hits a three and it’s just a four point game as things are getting late in the first half. US can’t be happy at this.
6.50pm BST
USA 44-37 France, 4:04, 2nd quarter
Heurtel with a layup and an and one. France is trying to creep back into this but the US shooters aren’t letting him. Irving with a jumper.
6.48pm BST
USA 42-32 France, 4:59, 2nd quarter
Carmelo Anthony (and his shoelaces) gets into the scoring column with an Irving-assisted jumper.
6.46pm BST
USA 36-28 France, 6:18, 2nd quarter
DeRozan hits a jumper to push the US lead back to 10… but only briefly. Rudy Gobert rebounds an off-target Charles Kahudi basket and tips it back in. Anthony and Thompson both miss three-pointers on the US end.
6.44pm BST
USA 34-26 France, 7:43, 2nd quarter
Nothing doing out of the timeout for France (whom I mistakingly just called Canada in the last status update I just realized.)
6.40pm BST
USA 34-24 France, 8:49, 2nd quarter
Paul George starts things off in the second quarter with a layup. Batum… loses the ball, which is the US team’s gain. Butler makes a jumper. Batum’s three bounces off the rim and France’s going to take a timeout here.
6.38pm BST
On Carmelo Anthony’s shoelaces:
@g_j_reid @HunterFelt I thought it was a tribute to all 7 year olds
6.37pm BST
USA 30-24 France, end of the 1st quarter
DeRozan draws another foul, on Mickael Gelabale again btw. He knocks down two. Paul George, having a good game so far, makes a jumper.
6.33pm BST
USA 25-22 France, 1:43, 1st quarter
Lauvergne keeps France on pace with a layup.
6.31pm BST
USA 21-20 France, 2:18, 1st quarter
And France has the lead. Lauvergne with a layup.
6.29pm BST
USA 19-18 France, 3:32, 1st quarter
Joffrey Lauvergne makes a jumper for France. Then Batum knocks down two free throws. France are just down one.
6.28pm BST
USA 19-14 France, 4:09, 1st quarter
Cousins with a layup. Klay Thompson hits a three. Boris Diaw answers with a jumper. Thompson with a layup…
6.27pm BST
USA 12-12 France, 5:33, 1st quarter
Both teams are getting in the rhythm now. Cousins gets an assist (!) when he sets up a Kevin Durant layup. It’s the first of two for Durant, the second set up by Irving.
6.25pm BST
USA 8-9 France, 6:42, 1st quarter
And Cousins gets called for a travel. This might be a long day for Cousins. And a short game.
6.23pm BST
USA 5-7 France, 7:29, 1st quarter
You’ll never believe this but Cousins just got called for an early foul.
6.22pm BST
USA 5-3 France, 8:04, 1st quarter
Nano De Colo with a layup and France is on the board, and he’s fouled by Irving. He makes the free throw to tie things up.
6.20pm BST
USA 3-0 France, 8:27, 1st quarter
Klay Thompson gets to the line, makes one of two free throws.
6.19pm BST
USA 2-0 France, 9:37, 1st quarter
Thomas Heurtel is starting over Tony Parker at point guard, which suggests that France is conserving their energy this game. Kyrie Irving gets the ball to DeMarcus Cousins who dunks for the US’s first points of the game.
6.15pm BST
Melo hasn't tied his sneaks which NY Post take as a tribute to prison gangs #USAvFRA @HunterFelt
You could say anything about the Post’s NBA coverage and I would believe it as long as it was sufficiently racist.
6.11pm BST
There’s a brief interview with Draymond Green, who is (sadly) completely on-message about playing “one on one” and not indulging in any trash talk. I guess that’s the downside of the US not demolishing every team in its path, we don’t get the Full Draymond Experience.
6.06pm BST
The pregame talk before USA vs France is all about their defensive struggles. Let me tell you a secret: Most analysts are kinda secretly happy that these games have been close because we at least have something to talk about.
6.00pm BST
Future's "March Madness" blasting before USA meets FRA. Players grooving in layup line. Only Harrison Barnes is "playin' for the Mavericks."
This is a definite improvement over “A Thousand Miles.”
5.50pm BST
And, for those who have been (understandably) more focused on swimming this past week, here’s the cast of crew for the US men’s team.
G Jimmy Butler
F Kevin Durant
C DeAndre Jordan
G Kyle Lowry
F Harrison Barnes
G DeMar DeRozan
G Kyrie Irving
G Klay Thompson
C DeMarcus Cousins
F Paul George
F Draymond Green
F Carmelo Anthony
5.45pm BST
Oh yeah, I suppose I should also mention just who exactly will be participating in today’s game. We’ll start with France’s roster.
PG Thomas Heurtel
SF Nicholas Batum
G Antoine Diot
F/C Joffrey Lauvergne
SF Charles Lombahe-Kahudi
PG Tony Parker
PF Florent Pietrus
G Nando de Colo
PF Boris Diaw
SF Mickael Gelabale
C Rudy Gobert
C Kim Tillie
5.42pm BST
So now we shift over to our main event.
I cannot believe that the US will play three close games in the row. Of course, I also believed that the Cleveland Cavaliers had no shot of even lasting more than six games against the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Finals and they ended up winning the whole thing so maybe my judgment isn’t perfect here.
5.38pm BST
This one was never anywhere close to in doubt. The US beat China 105-62 as USA chants break out.
5.35pm BST
And now the US women are leading 102-55 with about two minutes left in the game. When their run is over, this 2016 team might be remembered as one of the most impressive basketball teams ever assembled.
5.29pm BST
Women’s basketball
Right now, the US women are keeping up their impressive run. They hold a comfortable 93-51 lead over China in the 4th quarter. This might end up being a tough act to follow up for the men’s team.
5.25pm BST
Oh hey so it looks like things are getting interesting for the US men’s basketball team. This is, to put things mildly, not a good thing. It was one thing for Team USA to play a close game against an Australian team that many thought would give them a challenge. It’s their effort against Serbia in the very next game that was more worrisome. Serbia was a missed (wide open) three pointer away from inexplicably forcing overtime, something which should shock some sense into this motley collection of NBA stars (and also Harrison Barnes).
These two back-to-back games are the closest thing the US team has had to a struggle since the disaster that was the 2004 Olympics. Yes, it’s only group play, but Team USA doesn’t quite look like the unstoppable juggernaut that hey really should be. This is a team that can be beat and if that seems entirely out of the realm of possibility, well we all saw what happened to the US women’s football team on Friday.
4.42pm BST
Hunter will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how the US got on in their last game:
Kyrie Irving scored 15 points and the US men’s basketball team survived their second straight strong challenge in the Rio Games, edging Serbia 94-91 on Friday.
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