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The 2024 Olympics came to an early end for Team USA’s 3×3 men’s basketball team.
Netherlands handled the Red, White and Blue with ease in a 21-6 victory in Sunday’s pool play competition. The United States had an opportunity to reach the play-in games with a win thanks to Latvia’s victory over Poland, but it missed a golden chance in its own game.
As a result, the Americans were eliminated after going 2-5.
Sunday’s loss ended the momentum they built with two straight wins over France and China after starting 0-4. It set up a win-and-advance scenario, but Netherlands was far too strong against a shorthanded American side.
Jimmer Fredette suffered a left leg injury in the second pool play game against Poland and did not take the court against Netherlands.
He is the headline name on the United States team as someone who was a Player of the Year and Naismith Award winner during his collegiate career at BYU and played in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns.
Perhaps the Paris Games would have been different for the Americans had he remained healthy and stretched the floor with his perimeter shooting.
Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis each managed two points in his absence, while Worthy de Jong paced the scoring for Netherlands with 11 points.
The full bracket for the men’s 3×3 competition can be found on the Olympics’ official website, and Netherlands clinched a spot in the semifinals and avoided the play-in round thanks to Sunday’s win.
Latvia is also in the semifinals and will play the winner of Sunday’s play-in game between Serbia and France. Netherlands will play the winner of Sunday’s play-in game between Lithuania and Poland.
The semifinals, gold-medal game and bronze-medal game are all scheduled for Monday.