The Boomers have given Team USA a big scare, rallying back from a 24-point third-quarter deficit to go down 98-92 in the early hours of Tuesday morning (AEST) in Abu Dhabi.
Australia was behind 65-41 early in the third and even trailed by as many as 18 points in the fourth but refused to go away, fighting until the very end.
Josh Giddey was a standout with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and as the game went on he developed a strong connection with Boomers big man Jock Landale, who was arguably Australia’s best with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Will Magnay, meanwhile, appears to have the jump for the back-up big man role after a strong showing while both established and emerging Boomers shone as Dyson Daniels and Matthew Dellavedova impressed.
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Australia started the game with Giddey and Patty Mills sharing the backcourt, with Daniels, Nick Kay and Landale rounding out the line-up.
Meanwhile, Team USA, who was without Kevin Durant (calf), started Steph Curry, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James and Joel Embiid.
Landale set the tone for what was a busy opening from the Boomers big man as he hustled on the boards for the first bucket of the game before James drained an open look from deep.
Landale though responded with a 3-pointer of his own as both teams found plenty of success from downtown early, with Edwards hitting his first three attempts of the game while Daniels even confidently sunk a triple.
Australia was well and truly keeping in touch with Team USA at that point, trailing 14-13 as Brian Goorjian made his first changes of the game, bringing in Josh Green, Dante Exum and Magnay for Daniels, Mills and Landale.
It was a well-deserved breather for Landale, who had seven points and four boards at that point, while it was notable that Magnay was the first big to come off the bench ahead of Duop Reath, with the JackJumper impressing in his minutes.
Meanwhile, Edwards continued to be lightning in a bottle for Team USA as he crossed over Magnay and then splashed the stepback 3-pointer.
That brought up 11 early points for Edwards and had Team USA ahead 19-13 as Goorjian called a timeout.
The Boomers responded with a 6-0 run to tie up the game as Exum fed Magnay in the paint for back-to-back buckets before Giddey drove towards the rim to score on Anthony Davis for his first field goal.
It didn’t take long for Team USA to re-establish its lead, kicking back out to 32-21 by the end of the first quarter as Australia’s offence struggled to get anything going late after going scoreless on six of its last seven possessions.
A lot of that came back to dealing with the combination of Bam Adebayo and Davis, who were menaces on the defensive end.
Jack McVeigh saw his first minutes early in the second quarter as Daniels produced a great backdoor cut for the finish to score Australia’s opening bucket of the quarter.
If there was one highlight to come out of the quarter, it was the way Giddey was aggressively driving towards the rim and finding plenty of success, scoring on back-to-back possessions while also crashing the glass on the defensive end.
As much as Giddey is obviously a gifted passer, the 21-year-old’s driving ability is also one of his biggest strengths as the 6-foot-8 point guard developed an effective two-man game with Landale.
Elsewhere, while McVeigh wasn’t the same outside shooting threat as he was in the warm-up games against China, he found other ways to get involved as he cut to the paint to cap off what was a 7-0 run for Australia.
Team USA still was up 39-30 at that point and quickly added to that buffer with a Steph Curry 3-pointer, going on to take a 53-37 lead into halftime.
Those early 3-pointers for Landale and Daniels were Australia’s only successful attempts of the half, with the Boomers otherwise going 2-for-11 while Team USA made eight of 19 shots from deep.
Australia did have the clear advantage in the paint (28-10) but had only nine bench points compared to 20 for Team USA, which is to be expected given the star-studded depth Steve Kerr has to work with.
Goorjian opened the third quarter by going back to the line-up that started the game as Daniels continued to be a shining light.
First, Giddey found a cutting Daniels for the first bucket of the period before the Atlanta Hawks guard came up with a steal on Davis to dunk it home on the other end.
Mills scored his first bucket of the game a few minutes into the quarter before fellow Boomers veteran Joe Ingles entered the action for the first time in a line-up that included Landale, Exum and Green.
Still, at that point Team USA still didn’t look threatened and led 67-45 before Australia went on a 10-0 run to wrestle back some momentum, with Magnay and Exum heavily involved.
A sloppy USA team made back-to-back turnovers which the Boomers turned into quick points as Exum first found Magnay in the paint with a pass before the big man dunked home an Exum miss soon after.
Magnay then outhustled Curry for a loose ball to score his third-straight bucket and cap off the run.
Australia was able to close the gap to 76-61 entering the final quarter and then got within 11 points of Team USA as Giddey scored six quick points, again relentlessly driving to the rim.
“If there are Chicago Bulls fans watching this game, they’ve got to be excited about Josh Giddey,” play-by-play commentator Jason Benetti said.
“He has been willing to put his body into Team USA all day.”
Dellavedova also saw his first minutes of the game in the opening stages of the fourth and operated as the primary ballhandler with Giddey off the court, making an immediate impact as he found Mills for a 3-pointer before forcing a steal that turned into a Daniels bucket.
Suddenly, the Boomers were in business with Team USA only leading 86-80 after missing its last seven shots, but a Tyrese Haliburton 3-pointer helped re-establish their cushion.
Australia then turned it over on the next possession after committing a shot clock violation before Haliburton knocked down another triple to put Team USA ahead 92-80 with just over two minutes left.
It looked like it was essentially game over at that point, although there were still a few final highlights — and reminders of what is to come — as Giddey first found Landale with a precision pass and then with a pinpoint inbounds pass.
The Boomers fought until the very end and while they came up just short, there will be plenty to take away ahead of Wednesday morning’s (2am AEST) game against Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
Speaking of which, here are some quick hitters on what we learned from the loss to Team USA.
SOME QUICK TAKEAWAYS…
GIDDEY-LANDALE COMBINATION FIRES
The 3-point shots weren’t falling on Tuesday but if there was one consistent source of offence for the Boomers it was through the Giddey-Landale pick-and-roll.
Landale was the early standout and while Giddey only really started to heat up in the second quarter, it was noticeable when he did.
Simply, he looked more confident driving towards the rim instead of always looking for the pass first, although when it presented itself — especially in the form of Landale — Giddey found him.
Otherwise, Giddey was also looking comfortable looking for the finish himself and while it didn’t always come off it was good to see the 21-year-old leaning into that part of his game.
Landale’s absence was felt at last year’s World Cup but with the Boomers big man healthy and Giddey firing in his Olympic debut, Australia looks to have found a key part of its offensive identity.
PATTY MILLS DOES NOT
Obviously Australia’s poor 3-point shooting is not down to Mills alone but if the veteran guard is to have a significant role in Paris, he desperately needs to find his shot.
Mills made one 3-pointer late in the piece on Tuesday but otherwise struggled, going 1-for-5 from deep and 2-for-8 from the field to finish with five points and just as many turnovers.
What makes Mills’ performance particularly concerning though is the fact it isn’t a one-off. He wasn’t able to get into any sort of rhythm in the warm-up games against China too.
If the shots aren’t falling for Mills, it is hard to see him playing a significant role in Paris and instead it may end up making more sense for him to get limited minutes off the bench.
DYSON’S DEFENCE IMPRESSES
The young Atlanta Hawks guard was one of the bigger surprises to come out of Tuesday’s game.
We all know Daniels has the tools on defence to make an impact but he was also getting involved on the other end of the floor, making an early 3-pointer and cutting to the basket to finish the game with 14 points.
Now, Daniels’ ability to get stops (three steals) and spark transition buckets could once again pose the question as to why Matisse Thybulle was left out given he has similar strengths that would have been valuable to the Boomers in their Paris campaign.
But regardless, it was promising to see a more confident and composed Daniels impress in his first significant minutes under Goorjian, who was reluctant to play him at last year’s World Cup.
MAGNAY THE BACK-UP BIG?
That is what it looks like if you consider the fact it was Magnay and not Reath who replaced Landale when the Boomers’ starting big man got his first rest.
Now, that would not have been set in stone had Magnay not put in the performance he did, scoring eight points to go with three rebounds, two steals and a block.
That was just in 11 minutes too. The hustle and willingness to fight for every possession and take it to a physical USA team packing plenty of size was noticeable.
Reath, meanwhile, was only given two minutes and at this stage may only see more playing time in specific match-ups, especially if the Boomers need a floor-spacing big.
WHAT ROLE WILL INGLES AND DELLY HAVE?
For Ingles, it looks like Goorjian is definitely not compelled to guarantee the Boomers veteran much playing time unless the 36-year-old is absolutely needed, giving him just three minutes on Tuesday.
Dellavedova only saw four minutes but he made the most of his short stint in the fourth quarter, running the team with Giddey on the bench and adding a much-needed spark on both ends of the floor.
