Canada Sports News

In the first of two exhibition head to head matches, the United States of America were better than the Australian basketball national team, 102-86. The game took place at Melbourne, at Marvel stadium.

The fantastic atmosphere didn’t distract Team USA, which slowly creates chemistry for the upcoming FIBA World Cup in China. Gregg Popovich and his boys had a tough opponent today, whose goal is to reach one of the medals, but managed to restrain him pretty well.

Plus, more than 51,000 spectators were behind the hosts, in the biggest ever basketball game on the Australian soil. The stadium used for rugby and soccer matches was specially prepared to host one basketball match, with the interior adapted solely for this event.

The Americans had a lead throughout the first half, but in the closing moments of the second period, the Boomers made several straight points, and closed the gap to only one point, 44-43. The home team even got a one-point lead after the start of the third quarter.

But then came the hurricane from the American side. The USA made a 13-0 run, sparked with three straight hits from downtown. One of those threes was Donovan Mitchell’s. Utah Jazz superstar was very happy with the way his team responded after Australia’s strong charge.

“We played in front of 55,000 people — there’s going to be nerves, guys are going to be geeked up and ready to go. But once we settled down and started playing our basketball, we were in good shape.”

Once the American team regained the control, there wasn’t a way back into the match for the hosts. Kemba Walker got into his zone and the Boston Celtics’ point guard dropped 21 points in the second half. He ended the contest with 23 buckets, which was a game-high.

Myles Turner had a double-double and the Pacers’ big man delivered 15 points with 14 rebounds. He was the only player with 10 or more rebounds in today’s event. In general, Team USA was again dominant in the air, outrebounding the Aussies 54-36.

Donovan Mitchell ended with 13 points, and Kyle Kuzma had 12, all by three-pointers.

On the other side, Patty Mills and Chris Goulding had 19 points each. San Antonio’s point guard was the best player of the hosts. But he was more into the fantastic atmosphere than the game. After all, he often sees all the guys from the American team, but never witnessed 50 thousand people watching basketball back at home.

“Everyone came out tonight,” Mills said. “Fans being able to show their full support, it’s really cool, really good to see and hopefully we keep this up for years to come.”

Jock Landale added 10 points and 7 boards of the home team. The Aussies showed good composure, but that one short sequence during which they lost the focus cost them a potential surprise. Boomers will have another chance for that sensation, this Saturday when they meet with the USA once again.

It is the last game for both teams before heading for China.