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2019 International Basketball series: Australia vs USA, Game 2 |
||
| Venue: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne | ||
| Match time: Fulltime | ||
| Australia | USA | |
|---|---|---|
| 98 | SCORE | 94 |
| 23 | Q1 | 26 |
| 25 | Q2 | 23 |
| 30 | Q3 | 27 |
| 20 | Q4 | 18 |
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For the first time ever, the Australian Boomers have beaten the USA.
In front of 52,000 fans, Patty Mills was immense down the stretch for the Boomers to get the job done, in what was ultimately a four-point victory.
The USA, who have lost just one exhibition game in their history and, playing with an NBA-only roster, haven’t lost a single game since 2006, were heavy favourites after a strong win during Game 1 on Thursday, but a much-improved Boomers held their nerve during the final term to get the job done.
Final score
Australia 98
USA 94
After a mostly competitive opening game of their international series ahead of the 2019 Basketball World Cup, the Australian Boomers and team USA will face off again in front of a huge crowd at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 2pm (AEST).
While the Boomers were outstanding during the first half of the series opener, the USA ran away with the game after the break, with Greg Popovich working his magic during the interval to get his side firing.
Even though this is a fairly understrength USA outfit ahead of the World Cup, which gets underway next Saturday in China, the USA still have plenty of star talent on the floor.
That was on show in front of a crowd of over 50,000 at Marvel Stadium on Thursday, with Kemba Walker leading the way for the visitors.
His game was impressive, while Joe Harris and Donovan Mitchell also had strong runs during the game, with the guards stretching the floor consistently throughout the game and shooting well.
The resilience of the Australians was good to see though. They were being pushed out of the game multiple times, but until the third period of play, continued to rely on their defence and shooting, pushing back into the game.
It’s their shooting which must be good if they want to not only compete in this game, but take on the top teams at the World Cup.
When they go dry, they go badly dry. The Boomers do have some great players, but they don’t have the creativity of other teams, so they rely on big totals from players like Patty Mills, Joe Ingles and bench rotation guys like Chris Goulding, Mitch Creek and Cameron Gliddon.
However, only Goulding and Mills shot the ball well on Thursday, and given the production in the earlier games against Canada, it’s an issue which might plague the team.
The other area the Boomers simply must improve is on the offensive glass. You can’t afford to give the USA second-chance points, and they did far too much of that during the game on Thursday.
Prediction
Both teams should be better for the run on Thursday night, but if Australia were going to win a game in this series, it was going to be the opener. Expect them to hang around in the contest for the most part, but the USA should claim a series sweep as they continue building with their understrength roster towards China in a week.
USA by 11.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the second match between the Aussies and USA from 2pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Tip-off: 2pm (AEST)
Venue: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
TV: Live, SBS Viceland
Online: Live, SBS on Demand
Australia (expected)
Point guard: Patty Mills
Shooting guard: Matthew Dellavedova
Small forward: Joe Ingles
Power forward: Jock Landale
Centre: Aron Baynes
Bench: David Barlow, Andrew Bogut, Mitch Creek, Cameron Gliddon, Chris Goulding, Nick Kay, Nathan Sobey
USA (expected)
Point guard: Kemba Walker
Shooting guard: Donovan Mitchell
Small forward: Joe Harris
Power forward: Jaylen Brown
Centre: Mason Plumlee
Bench: Harrison Barnes, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Myles Turner, Derrick White, Khris Middleton
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