Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – With the United States in danger of losing for the first time since 2006, National Basketball Association stars Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving took command Wednesday to subdue stubborn Australia at the Rio Olympics.
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“The goal is to do something Australia has never done before”, said Mills, who finished with 30 points.
But Anthony, the first male to play in four Olympics, steadied the Americans in the first competitive game most of this new team had ever experienced.
In my last article I said that Australia would provide Team USA with their toughest competition in pool play, but I did not think that Australia would push the US until the final minutes.
Carmelo Anthony, the only player on Team USA who has experienced defeat in the Olympics – the Americans lost two games in ’04 and settled for the bronze medal – was phenomenal, making 9 of 15 three-pointers and finishing with 31 points.
The Americans trailed in the fourth quarter and by eight earlier in the game before pulling away for their 20th straight Olympic win.
Patty Mills led the Aussies in what was essentially a flawless first half for the team.
After five easy exhibitions preceding routs of China and Venezuela to open the tournament, the Americans trailed 72-70 with about 9 minutes left. His 31 points leave him as the all-time United States of America scorer at the Games with 293 points, surpassing LeBron James.
The Aussies stayed hot on the US NBA stars’ heels but came no closer than four points after that, thanks in large part to Anthony.
Andrew Bogut’s facilitation and leadership again stood out as his ability to generate offense opened up the floor to give the Boomers plenty of good looks as they shot 50% on the night.
The game proved to be exhilarating as the Boomers had the lead by two points early in the final quarter. While they are better by 30 or 40 points (or more) than nearly everyone they’ll be facing in this tournament, there are some teams that can take advantage of being disrespected, and Australia nearly did.
The tough Australian defense, primarily from Andrew Bogut, wouldn’t allow the United States any easy baskets inside. The Chinese (0-3) are now unlikely to qualify for the next round.
But Bogut, despite being surprised by his own performance in just his third game back from a knee injury, wasn’t all smiles. He took it upon himself to lead us. “It’s not everyday you hit a game-winning shot”. He scored 31 points and carried the U.S.to the victory and a 3-0 record.
Team USA narrowly passed its toughest test thus far in Group A play, barely edging out unbeaten Australia, who were rumored to be “holding some stuff back” in anticipation of a rematch with the Americans later in the medal round, 98-88.
Australia has defeated Serbia and France in these Olympics. He missed a jumper, grabbed a rebound, and also saw Anthony bury a 3-pointer. He scored 14 in total in the first quarter and completed the game with a total of 293 points throughout his entire Olympic career.
It was a welcome test for the Americans, who have been so dominant under Krzyzewski that it sometimes seems the US players are the only ones who don’t make a gold medal sound assured.
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Anthony, playing in his fourth and final Olympics, continued to prove a major difference between the teams down the stretch, hitting another big three as the United States were just able to keep the terrier-like Boomers at bay.
