Nigeria won 90-87, becoming the first African country to beat the American basketball team.

Nigeria defeated the United States 90-87 in an Olympic exhibition match in Las Vegas, breaking one of the biggest upsets in the history of international basketball.

On Saturday night, Nigeria, headed by six NBA players and former NBA coach Mike Brown, became the first African country to beat the United States, which is participating in the first of the first five games of the Tokyo Olympics.

“In the final analysis, in terms of what we want to achieve, it doesn’t make much sense in the standings,” Brown said.

“But it was a good victory for us. I don’t think any African team can beat American basketball in an exhibition game or a real game…We are trying to get a little momentum for Nigeria and the African continent,” Brown added.

The Nigerian side defeated the five American starters Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Jason Tatum, Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayor. No three Americans are still active in the NBA Finals.

Nigeria has 12 NBA players in the 49-man training camp in California and 7 players in uniform on Saturday. Gabriel Namdi Vincent leads with 21 points.

“We kept the game simple,” Vincent said, “and took the lead.”

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant had never lost for the national team in 39 international games before. He led the US team with 17 points.

“I’m very happy that it happened,” American coach Gregg Popovich said, noting that Nigerians have been able to train together since late June, while the American side only assembled four days ago.

Popovich said that failure should be seen as a learning experience, not as “the end of the world.”

Popovich said: “I think the Nigerian team played very well physically, doing a good job in this area, knocking down a lot of three-pointers.” “Give them credit.”

Nigeria’s victory came nine years after the United States defeated the Nigerian 156-73 at the London Olympics. Four years later, Nigeria again lost to the United States in an exhibition game, losing 44 points.

“Nigeria has made great progress in basketball,” said Jerry Colangelo, general manager of the US team.

Since winning the bronze medal in 2004, the United States has won three Olympic men’s basketball championships. They hope to regain global dominance after finishing seventh in the 2019 FIBA ??World Cup.

They played against Australia, ranked third in the world, in a friendly match on Monday.

Nigeria has 12 NBA players in the 49-man training camp in California [AFP]