May 26-30, 2021 • Graz, Austria

In the inaugural FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament from May 26-30 in Graz, Austria, the USA came up short and saw its dream of qualifying for the inaugural Olympic 3x3 competition dashed with a 21-16 loss. The USA finished 3-2 and in sixth place.

The USA opened play with an exciting, 21-20, come-from-behind win over Lithuania. The USA got five defensive stops in the final minutes, including with 20 seconds left, when Joey King stole the ball, dribbled to behind the arc and made a 2-pointer to claim the USA comeback win with 16 seconds remaining on the clock.

Early on, the USA led 7-3 before Lithuania reeled off an 8-0 run to go ahead 11-7 at 5:32. Over the next three minutes, Kareem Maddox scored six of his eight points to help the USA pull within one point, 17-16, at 2:25. Lithuania quickly scored three points to lead 20-16 and looked to be on the verge of an important win. King scored to make it 20-17, and a timeout was called. After the break, Maddox drove the lane for a dunk, followed by King who turned the corner for a lay-in, and it was 20-19, with the USA down by one point and 28 seconds left. That is when King got the USA’s biggest defensive stop of the game, followed by the 2-pointer for the win.

After its hard-fought win against Lithuania, the USA led from start to finish in a 21-3 win over South Korea that saw King score seven, Maddox added six, Dominique Jones added five and Robbie Hummel scored three points. The USA made seven 2-pointers overall while giving up just three made baskets.

The USA topped Kazakhstan and fell to Belgium to close out pool play on May 29, and in spite of the loss, emerged as Pool B’s No. 1 seed.  

What started out as a game the USA had in hand saw Kazakhstan come back from 20-13 to make it 20-19 before the USA sealed the 22-19 win with a 2-pointer from Hummel at 1:08. The USA was ahead 20-13 at 3:30 before Kazakhstan started to climb back, making six 2-pointers overall. The USA struggled to make shots down the stretch as it looked for a score from deep to earn a 22-point win, but Jones dished to Hummel for a 2-pointer at 1:08 to complete the 22-19 U.S. win. Hummel and King each had seven points, Maddox had five and Jones had three.

The USA entered the game against Belgium knowing it would need to score 16 points to secure its advancement to the quarterfinals, and it did just that in a tight loss to Belgium that featured 11 tied scores. A made 2-pointer gave Belgium a 12-11 edge at 2:58, but the USA responded with scores from Jones, King and Maddox to go ahead 14-12. Belgium put together two 2s and swung back in front 16-14. King pulled the USA back to 16-16, but Belgium again had an answer and made two more 2s to earn the win 20-16 as time ran out.

Finishing preliminary play in a three-way tie with Belgium and Lithuania (3-1) in Pool B, the USA scored the 16 points it needed against Belgium to break the tie in its favor.

In the quarterfinals, Netherlands made four 2-pointers in the last 3:38, accounting for eight of its final 11 points to hold off the USA. Four times the USA led, including 6-5 at 6:39. Netherlands evened the score, 6-6, at 6:29, and proceeded to build a 12-8 lead at 4:42. The USA tied it 12-12 with two points from King and Maddox, who made the USA’s only 2. Two quick 2s by Netherlands put them up 16-12, and the USA got no closer than three points, 19-16, with 1:25 to play. With the USA in the foul penalty, Netherlands made two free throws to end the game 21-16 with 1:04 on the clock. The USA was led by eight points from King, and Hummel and Jones each had two points. Netherlands finished the game shooting 14-25 overall, including 5-of-13 from 2-point, while the USA shot 15-of-25 but was just 1-of-6 from 2-point.

Netherlands went on to qualify for the Olympics after beating France in the semifinals. Poland beat Latvia to earn the other semifinal berth, and Latvia beat France in the third-place game to earn the final men’s Olympic spot awarded at the tournament.

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