It was the first time the USA trailed at halftime in the Olympics since its 2004 debacle. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving carried the US in the final minutes, finishing with 19 points. The game was tied after the first quarter, and it wasn’t until Anthony came up with a key defensive play that momentum swung in the second quarter.
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Every bit of the matchup between USA Basketball and Australia in Olympics men’s basketball lived up to the hype.
The Aussies’ cohesiveness was evident as the forced the USA to get away from a more selfish brand of basketball that was good enough against China and Venezuela, but wasn’t as effective against a stronger opponent. He adds, “We knew that going in the team has a knack for being a little dirty”.
The USA fought through foul trouble and didn’t crumble against Australia’s disciplined and creative offensive sets.
United States coach Mike Krzyzewski was full of praise for the Australians, describing them as genuine gold medal contenders. While Patty Mills and Bogut, would be efficient on offense to lead Australia for most of the first quarter.
The Australians, ousted by the Americans in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic quarter-finals, have four players who won National Basketball Association titles and had talked of pulling off an upset.
“This is the real world now and that’s good for us”, coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “This was a really good night for us”. “His commitment to USA Basketball and global basketball, he’s one of the best players in the world, but over this last decade he has proved to be one of the best worldwide players”. “We rolled all our dice tonight and couldn’t beat them”.
Canada’s win also clinched a spot in the quarterfinals for the USA, and the teams will play Friday. We will need to. “It was a physical game, a grind-out game”.
USA Basketball was back on the floor at Rio 2016 on Day 5 with the rest of Group A in the Olympics men’s basketball competition. It’s not always 40-point victories and dunk shows. Mills, for example, took 22 shots for Australia Wednesday because he’s their go-to option offensively.
He shared the team lead in rebounds with DeMarcus Cousins, as both had eight. Australia next takes on an underwhelming China, which can only hope that Australia has a letdown from their top effort against the world’s best.
Tony Parker made a jumper with 31 seconds remaining as France rallied down the stretch after losing a huge early lead to beat Serbia 76-75 in an Olympic men’s basketball game Monday. Maybe it will be Spain, Argentina, Brazil or Lithuania in the knockout round.
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The end result was another blowout victory, but the Americans couldn’t put it on cruise control like they had in their first two wins. “This was a big step for us, building our character and our identity”.
