MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Mikal Bridges pulled off an overtime-forcing miracle. It wasn’t enough to keep the U.S. from heading home from the World Cup empty-handed, and after 87 years of waiting Canada has again medaled on one of basketball’s biggest stages.
Dillon Brooks scored 39 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 points and 12 assists and Canada won its first medal at a global men’s tournament since 1936 by topping the U.S. 127-118 in the third-place game in Manila on Sunday.
The U.S. failed to medal for the second consecutive World Cup. It’s only the seventh time in 38 appearances at the Olympic or World Cup level that an American team did not emerge with gold, silver or bronze.
“The United States hasn’t won the World Cup since 2014,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s hard. These teams in FIBA are really good, well-coached, they’ve got continuity and they’ve played together for a long time. This is difficult and it’s been difficult…