Team Australia will be facing Team USA in the 2016 Rio Olympics men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday night.
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A 15-3 Australia run in the second quarter, led by six points from captain David Andersen, put the USA team in a 46-39 hole.
“We knew it was a big game”, Anthony said. “He’s special. We don’t get this without him”.
Although James and some other National Basketball Association stars passed on a chance to play in Brazil, Anthony signed up again and is making the most of what will undoubtedly be his final games.
Trailing the Boomers 72-70 early in the fourth quarter, Anthony tied the game from inside the paint then hit two big three-pointers to put the US ahead for good as they remained top of the Group A standings with a 3-0 record.
But after racing to a five-point half-time lead behind the play of Mills, Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova and David Andersen, the Aussies soon fell behind, allowing Team USA to score the first nine points of the third quarter.
For comparison’s sake, Brazilian legend Oscar Schmidt scored 1,093 points during his Olympic career, but unlike Anthony, he didn’t have his minutes restricted while playing on powerhouse teams. But the scrappy, NBA-hardened Australian lineup was up to the task of facing the USA, with Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, and Andrew Bogut producing world-class performances to take it to their highly-fancied rivals.
Shooting just 39% from the field, Team USA struggled to get to their spots, forcing the offense with several broken plays, relying on their dominance on the offensive glass to keep themselves in the game.
“With the group we have, we believe that we can beat them”, Mills said.
The Americans clinched a spot in the medal round, though that was never going to be in doubt.
The Americans were so carefree in their opener that reserve Jimmy Butler played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would shoot a free throw realized it was in a fight in this one.
The USA was always going to make a run and, with the Australians missing their first five shots to start the second half, they regained the ascendency.
With the win, the Americans extended their Olympic winning streak to 20 games, 19 of which have come under the guidance of Duke and United States National Team head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
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These teams are both tied atop the Group A standings with four points apiece, placing them ahead of Serbia (3), France (3), Venezuela (2) and China (2).
