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‘Really physical’ Boomers give USA major scare as epic comeback falls short in Olympic tune-up

Basketball

‘Really physical’ Boomers give USA major scare as epic comeback falls short in Olympic tune-up

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July 15, 2024February 12, 2023
‘Really physical’ Boomers give USA major scare as epic comeback falls short in Olympic tune-up

In short:

Australia has almost pulled off a miraculous comeback win over the United States in an Olympic warm-up game in Abu Dhabi overnight.

After trailing USA by 24 points midway through the third quarter, the Boomers cut the lead down to just six before going down 98-92.

What’s next?

The Boomers will play their final Olympic warm-up game against Serbia on Wednesday morning in the UAE before heading to France. 

The Boomers have nearly pulled off a shock comeback win against a stacked US team in their Olympic warm-up in Abu Dhabi.

Having trailed by 24 points midway through the third quarter, Australia cut the deficit to six with 5:05 left after a 39-21 run.

ABC Sport will be live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics from July 27

Even after Tyrese Haliburton landed a brace of three-pointers, pushing the lead back to 92-80, the Boomers kept battling and twice trimmed the gap back to four before the US struck late to win 98-92.

Jock Landale led Australia’s scoring with 20 points, with strong contributions from Josh Giddey (17) and Dyson Daniels (14).

“I give Australia a ton of credit. They were great. They fought. They were really physical. Took it to us in the last quarter-and-a-half and really made it a game,” said US coach Steve Kerr, who is combining the role with his post at Golden State Warriors.

The difference was depth.

Australia’s starting five was Patty Mills, Giddey, Daniels, Nick Kay and Landale, all but Japan-based Kay being NBA players.

The US began with an elite quintet of Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James and Anthony Edwards.

And they backed it up with Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker.

That was the group on the floor when the Americans took a game that was tied at 19-19 with 3:15 left in the first and turned it into a 39-23 lead — a 20-4 run in a span of just over five minutes.

By half-time it was 53-37.

“The strength of our team is our depth and we have to utilise our depth,” Kerr said.

That extra quality showed in the willingness to try, and ability to land, three-pointers. The US scored 12 three-pointers, from 29 attempts (41.38 per cent), Australia hit four from 18 (22.22 per cent).

The Boomers fought back by forcing turnovers, getting 25 points off them in the second half alone.

“Third quarter, we started turning the ball over,” Kerr added. 

“We gave up a ton of points at the basket. The game shifted. It’s a good lesson for us.”

For the US Davis scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Booker 16 points, Anthony Edwards 14 and James, Adebayo and Embiid 10 each.

The Boomers play their final warm-up against Serbia on Tuesday (2am AEST Wednesday), also in the UAE.

AAP

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