Aging Argentina looks reasonably frisky in the face of lowered expectations, but no one out there comes close to matching what Australia is doing now that Bogut – who was forced to miss the London Olympics in 2012 thanks to a serious ankle injury – has joined London holdovers Mills, Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes and David Andersen.
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The New York Knicks star had a game-high 31 points in USA’s hard-fought 98-88 win over Australia in Group A.
Kevin Durant capped off the scoring with two free throws, making him the only other player than Irving or Anthony to score in the period.
After blowout wins over China and Venezuela to open pool play, USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said the Olympic tournament had now moved up a level for the Americans.
United States coach Mike Krzyzewski was full of praise for the Australians, describing them as genuine gold medal contenders.
“He was wanting that moment”, teammate Paul George said after the Americans escaped an upset.
Bogut had 15 points for Australia and Matthew Dellavedova 11 points and 11 assists.
Canberra basketballer Patty Mills would have preferred to beat Team USA for his birthday present, but he is closing in on another personal milestone at the Rio Olympic Games. Anthony scored to tie it, hit a 3-pointer to give the US the lead for good, and then hit two more 3s that pushed it to 83-76. They just played lights out basketball.
“The first two games we played, we were significantly better than those teams and this is the real world now”. They have never won a medal, but four of their players own National Basketball Association rings, and with smart passing and strong rebounding, almost became the first team to knock off the Americans in the Olympics since 2004. “It definitely got real”. They almost became the first team to knock off the Americans in the Olympics since Krzyzewski took over in 2005.
“The Australian media is saying, ‘this is the best thing ever, you battled, we’re proud of you, ‘ but we’re disappointed”, Bogut said after Wednesday’s near-miss.
The victory leaves France, which lost its opener to Australia, at 2-1 in Group A, with Serbia falling to 1-2. Then the Aussies gave the team ranked No. 1 all it could handle.
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.
Anthony scored 31 points to became the USA men’s Olympic career scoring leader, combining with Irving for all the Americans’ baskets in the fourth quarter of a 98-88 victory over Australia on Wednesday. He added eight rebounds, two steals and may have saved the Americans from a loss by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. They quickly blew away Venezuela after it was 18-all, but the only second-quarter surge in this one was made by Australians.
They used a 15-3 burst to make it 46-39, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski actually needed a timeout to calm his team.
Irving once considered playing for Australia, where he was born while his father was playing there professionally.
Diana Taurasi and her USA teammates knew they’d be in for a test against Serbia.
“They can go pretty far”, Durant said.
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This game was a wakeup call for Team USA, and a strong indicator that they can be toppled on any given day.
