The United States lost for the second time in succession at the Basketball World Cup in China and are now guaranteed to record their worst-ever finish at the event.
In a place-match duel with Serbia on Friday (NZ time), the US slipped to a 94-89 defeat, 24 hours after France eliminated them in the quarter-finals.
The World Cup will conclude for the Americans on Saturday, with a final match against Poland to decide whether they finish seventh or eighth.
Previously, their worst finish was sixth at the 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis.
Gregg Popovich's side produced a disastrous first quarter to trail Serbia 32-7. They twice fought their way back into contention, but were ultimately defeated.
Serbia's NBA star Bogdan Bogdanovic was top scorer with 28 points, while Harrison Barnes replied with 22 for the US.
Despite the poor performance without headline NBA names such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry and James Harden, the reaction in the US was not overly harsh.
"This was not a disaster for the USA," the broadcaster NBC wrote in an analysis. "This was no embarrassment, this was not a lack of effort.
"It's simply another sign that the basketball universe is changing."
The US are expected to bounce back at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but broadcaster ESPN warned the structure of the squad and participation rate of superstars must improve if Team USA "wants to dominate these tournaments again".
Reuters