Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves and Team USA finished up FIBA World Cup play on Sunday morning, falling to Dillon Brooks and Canada 127-118 in overtime.
With both teams losing in the semifinals, this was the third-place match so Canada will be taking home to bronze medal for the first time in FIBA World Cup history while Team USA will unfortunately not medal.
To make matters worse, it was Brooks, a known villain for Lakers fans, that led the way for Canada with a game-high 39 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists, one steal and two blocks in 42 minutes.
Brooks came out firing from deep and was able to maintain his hot shooting throughout, draining seven of his eight 3-point attempts in the victory.
As was the case all tournament, Reaves was one of Team USA’s only reliable scorers as he finished with 23 points off the bench on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Reaves finishes the tournament averaging 13.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 21.9 minutes per game off the bench, shooting 56.6% from the field, 50% from 3 and 94.9% from the free throw line.
In addition to Reaves, Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges also had solid games against Canada to make up for the losses of Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Paolo Banchero.
Edwards led Team USA with 24 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block while Bridges contributed 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal.
Bridges found himself at the free throw line with USA trailing by three in the final seconds and executed a perfect missed free throw, getting his own rebound and then beating the buzzer with a triple to send the game to overtime.
It was all Canada in overtime, however, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points, six rebounds and 12 assists while RJ Barrett had 23 points, including the dagger 3 in the final minute to seal Team USA’s fate.
James hinting at playing in 2024 Olympics?
With Team USA failing to medal in this summer’s FIBA World Cup, there will be more pressure on the American stars to play in next summer’s 2024 Paris Olympics to avoid the same result.
One person who seems to be considering it is Lakers star LeBron James, although entering his 21st NBA season, he will need to see where he’s at health wise going into next summer before making a decision.
James last player for Team USA in the 2012 London Olympics, bringing home a gold medal in dominant fashion.
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