There's no way to sugarcoat it. Nobody's afraid of Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics anymore. Ever since the first exhibition game that went awry against Nigeria, the US's sheen of invincibility had vanished.

That fact was on full display in their opening match against France. The Frenchmen, led by one NBA All-Star in Rudy Gobert, two decent veterans in Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier, and two young reserves in Frank Ntilikina and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, vastly outplayed Team USA to closeout the contest and win, 83-76.

On paper, it's definitely puzzling for a Team USA full of superstars like Damian Lillard to succumb to an opponent that arguably doesn't have any beyond a defensive-minded Gobert. But Lillard understands that this is an entirely different reality from the one they exist in within the NBA, via INSIDER's Jackson Thompson.

“And you know who we see each night sometimes in the NBA, they are completely different when they play for their countries,” Lillard said. “They got more freedom, and the comfort level is obvious. So we put ourselves in a dogfight, and they made plays to win it.”

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Evan Fournier, who has respectable NBA scoring ability, outgunned everyone on Team USA with 28 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer in the closing minute.

The rest of the tournament is littered with guys like Evan Fournier who are unafraid to take down their American rivals. For Team USA to win it all, they must fully understand that they aren't lapping the field anymore.