Athens, Greece ? Their shots clanged off the rim, smacked the side of the backboard or missed completely.

Whatever remained of America’s aura of invincibility slipped away, too, in a shocking, lopsided loss that left their coach embarrassed and angry.

Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and the rest of the U.S. basketball team fell, 92-73, on Sunday to Puerto Rico. It was only the third Olympic defeat ever — and first since adding pros — for the nation that ruled the sport for three-quarters of a century.

It was by far the worst defeat for a U.S. men’s team, coming in the Americans’ first game of the Athens Olympics. Having it happen against a team they had dominated only made it hurt worse.

“I’m humiliated, not for the loss — I can always deal with wins and losses — but I’m disappointed because I had a job to do as a coach, to get us to understand how we’re supposed to play as a team and act as a team, and I don’t think we did that,” Larry Brown said.

Puerto Rico, which had lost to the U.S. five times since July 2003, was up 22 at halftime and gamely held off a fourth-quarter rally for one of the greatest sports achievements in the territory’s history.

The loss did little to hurt the Americans’ gold medal chances. They need only to finish in the top four of their six-team group to reach the quarterfinals. Still, the defeat will go a long way toward giving the competition hope.

As Carlos Arroyo left the court, he defiantly pulled at the words “Puerto Rico” on his jersey. He led his team with 24 points.

“That was him telling his island of 4 million people he was very proud to beat the big colossal from the north,” Puerto Rico coach Julio Toro said.

U.S. players Lamar Odom, left, and Stephon Marbury sit dejectedly during their team's loss to Puerto Rico. The Americans suffered a 92-73 loss Sunday at Athens, Greece, in their Olympic opener.

Anyone in America who didn’t see this coming hadn’t been paying attention. The U.S. team dropped three games on its home turf at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis — the first losses ever by a U.S. team of NBA professionals.

This year’s team, weakened by defections and rejections of 12 top players, had opened its pre-Olympic tour of Europe with a 17-point loss to Italy and a last-second victory over Germany.