In Olympic warm-up, star-studded USA basketball team is stunned by loss to Nigeria

Team USA’s 39-game Olympic win streak came to a stunning and embarrassing end as the star-studded American team fell to Nigeria in an exhibition game.

Nigeria beat the U.S. 90-87 on Saturday night with a team of mostly unknowns and NBA backbenchers, sending a clear message that teamwork and not just All-Star labels and big contracts secure wins in the international competition.

“We just wanted to compete,” Nigeria’s Gabe Nnamdi told The Associated Press. “We know what USA Basketball means around the world and what they’ve stood for for so long.”

The U.S. team 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 in 1992, AP noted.

“I thought that the Nigerian team played very physically, did a great job in that regard and knocked down a lot of 3s,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said. “Give them credit.”