Rio-Cap: USA 98, Australia 88 (or, Boomers Are Nearly Busters)

For anyone wondering whether or not Team USA would be tested in men’s basketball during these Rio Olympics… the answer on Wednesday was a resounding “bloody fair dinkum, mate!”

The US men discovered what the French and the Serbians already knew — that the Aussies are for real, and are hungry for a medal — as they got all they bargained for and then some from Team Australia in Group A play inside Carioca Arena. In fact, it almost strayed beyond a test and into the nearly uncharted waters of an upset, as the United States found itself having to dig out of its first halftime deficit since the embarrassing Bronze effort of 2004 in Athens.

Carmelo Anthony was around for that disappointing finish 12 years ago, and seemed determined not to let it happen again… at least not in a preliminary round. His game high 31 points (on 11-21 shooting, and a blistering 9-15 from range) and eight boards helped lead the US out of the danger zone and on to an ultimate 10 point victory. Melo got an assist (or five) from Kyrie Irving, who also came through with 19 points, including some big shots down the stretch… (look familiar?)

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The only other player to hit double digits for the Americans was Kevin Durant (14), but he had a miserable night shooting the ball (4-16) and wound up deferring often to the red hot Melo. In fact, outside of KD’s two free throws to close out the scoring, nobody else on Team USA besides Anthony and Irving scored in the fourth quarter. It was a rough shooting night all around, and even though Coach K shook things up by starting Paul George in place of a struggling Klay Thompson, none of the US wings could generate much offense. As has become a theme early on as well, Boogie Cousins picked up a couple of quick fouls and was a relative non-factor.

Meanwhile, the Australians came out firing and moving the ball well. Led by the sharpshooting of Patty Mills, who scored 30 points on 11-22 shooting (5-11 from deep), the Boomers matched the American’s 29 first quarter points and actually took a five point margin into halftime. The Aussies shot an incredible 68% from the field in the first half, several on easy oops off of Delly alleys. Yes, old friend and recently former Cav, Matthew Dellavedova, dished out nine dimes in the half… many to fellow NBA-er Andrew Bogut (who went 7-9 at the rim). The Wombat finished with a near triple-double for the game with 11 points, 11 assists and 7 boards, and had one of his signature off-balance prayers answered in the second quarter…

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Though much of the hype leading up to the game (at least around these parts) was on the intriguing matchup of Kyrie and his former backup Delly, the two didn’t spend all that much time guarding each other early on. Kyrie had his hands full with Patty Mills (when he wasn’t getting his teeth knocked loose by the inevitable Bogut moving screen), while Delly was tasked with pestering Klay, KD and PG-13 (whom he wound up baiting into an unsportsmanlike technical). The two former teammates did put on a bit of a show in the fourth, however, trading buckets on a couple of back to back possessions. Ultimately, Kyrie and his team came out on top, but there’s no denying Delly did his best to help keep the Aussies in the game (they were +5 with him on the floor).

Oh, and speaking of tooth-rattling… Bogut saved a little something special for Kyrie at half court…

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Overall, Australia with its abundance of NBA talent on its roster, showed zero fear in what, given how they’ve played in the tournament thus far, might well turn out to be a preview of the gold-medal game. If it’s anything like Wednesday’s matchup, it should be a must watch event and a real treat for anyone missing NBA level action.

Next up for Team USA is a rematch of the 2014 FIBA World Cup final against Serbia on Friday. Hopefully, this competitive game with the Aussies is just what the Americans needed to keep things interesting this summer.