The Australian Boomers have bounced back from a poor first half performance to record a one-point victory over Argentina in their first Rio Olympics warm-up game, with NBA Champion Matthew Dellavedova hitting the winning shot.
After having a scheduled game against Lithuania cancelled on Tuesday due to a leaking roof at the Tecnopolis in Buenos Aires, the Boomers managed to get on court with some quick repairs and a halt in the torrential rain.
The Boomers had a dreadful start to the match and struggled to get into it, trailing by four points heading into the final quarter.
While it is hard to read into a warm-up game for form, the fact they were behind for three-quarters against the world no. 4 team does raise plenty of questions about their medal hopes with the Games just around the corner.
Argentina didn’t completely shut off though and both teams fought down the stretch, with Dellavedova hitting a mid-range jump shot with just over half a minute on the clock for the win.
DELLY. CLUTCH. Boomers win! pic.twitter.com/pe3diDR9Zh
— Tom Read (@traread) July 27, 2016
Earlier, though, the Boomers struggled at both ends of the court with their defence unable to contain the duo of Luis Scola and Manu Ginobli who ended up with 27 and 22 points respectively.
Andres Nocioni was also strong finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
For Australia, as it was against the Pac-12 College All-Stars in their farewell games, they struggled for consistency on offence. Despite their defence coming to life in the second half, during which they conceded just 37 points, it wasn’t until the closing stages that they edged ahead.
Along with the match-winning shot and seven points, Dellavedova would end with seven assists while David Andersen added plenty off the bench with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Worryingly for the Boomers, Aron Baynes, who will become critical if Andrew Bogut can’t play in Rio, only managed 13 minutes with six points and a couple of rebounds.
Brock Motum and Ryan Broekhoff were strong playing the wings while Patty Mills added 13 points, but seriously struggled only shooting 27 per cent.
While a win might be a win for the Boomers to get their campaign underway, there is plenty of work to do if they want to get gold in Rio.
The Boomers will play three more warm-up games over the next couple of days with the possibility of a fourth.
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