China lost to USA 77-63 in their third game at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Sydney, Australia on Saturday.

The last time the two teams played each other, USA won 100-88 in the last edition of World Cup in Spain in 2018. That was the smallest deficit for China against USA since 1983.

Despite the loss, many praised the Chinese players' performances on the internet.

"It's the best Chinese women's basketball team in the past 10 years," Chinese basketball commentator Su Qun posted on his Sina Weibo account.

"Chinese players have every reason to be proud of themselves despite the loss. Li Meng is good enough for the WNBA. We will see you again in the knockout phase, USA," Chinese basketball reporter Duan Ran wrote.

"Though China didn't win, but how can you not love their efforts," Chinese basketball expert Shu Hai wrote.

Both China and USA had two straight wins before Saturday's game. China beat South Korea and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while USA defeated Belgium and Puerto Rico. The result of this game will likely decide the final rankings of this group.

USA produced great defensive pressure on China from the beginning. Whenever Chinese players tried to launch screen play from the two wings, the ball handler would face immediate double-teaming. If Chinese centers set screen around the top of the key, defenders would quickly switch or hedge and recover with one purpose: To disallow the feeding to the rolling player for easy layup.

As a result, China committed as many as 19 turnovers and watched USA get 12 steals, five of which came from Alyssa Thomas. Though both Han Xu and Li Mengru have size advantage, they often failed to receive the ball under the paint where they could exploit the most of their height. Han could make some shots in the middle range but they were not enough to make USA's defense pay.

Compared with their Chinese counterparts, American players have a better implementation of off-ball movement as well as individual passing abilities. They created and made more open 3-pointers in the first half of the game and led 44-25.

China's response came soon in the third quarter. First, the team added re-screen during pick and roll at the two wings so the ball-handler could have better space to either shoot off the dribble or drive in. Second, Han became the starting center from the second half and began to use her height advantage to pass from the high block to teammates who did more cut-ins along the baseline. Third, Li Meng and Wang Siyu began to charge the paint more often and shot more decisively from outside.

Meanwhile, Chinese players grew more aggressive on the defensive end as well. They realized that, despite the incredible individual abilities of their American counterparts, the opponents lacked coordination as a team. Most of their players were still competing in the WNBA playoffs in August. A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum even missed the USA's opener against Belgium. As a result, USA began to commit turnovers facing greater defensive pressure from China.

The changes worked immediately in the third quarter during which China led 22-12. Coach Zheng Wei's adjustments to the team were very successful, but happened only because Chinese players were able to match their American counterparts during most one-on-one possessions.

The fourth quarter became the closest quarter in Saturday's game. Li Meng, Wang and Han became the offensive spine for China while Wilson and Gray began to release their dominant isolation ability. Gray made three off-the-dribble jumpers right in the faces of defenders bigger than her. While both sides began to feel run down, American players grabbed more offensive rebounds thanks to their better athleticism, for more offensive possessions. In the end, China failed to reverse the situation, though they kept the suspense of the game up until the last minute.

China will take a day off on Sunday and then play against Puerto Rico on September 26 and Belgium on September 27.