Midway through the third quarter, Team USA led by twenty-four points; but, by the end of the pre-Olympic exhibition, the lead had shrunk to six.
The American Olympic team had a lot to be happy about on Monday. And enough to dislike.
Tyrese Haliburton’s two clutch 3-pointers late in the game prevented the Americans from going into a freefall, and Anthony Davis’ 17 points and 14 rebounds helped the United States defeat Australia 98-92 on Monday to go to 2-0 in their five exhibition games before the Olympics in Paris.
LeBron James, Bam Adebayo, and Joel Embiid each finished with ten points, while Devin Booker scored sixteen. This week, the Americans will host two exhibition games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Anthony Edwards scored fourteen points. On Wednesday, they’ll play Serbia there.
Australia’s Jock Landale scored twenty points, with Josh Giddey scoring seventeen and Dyson Daniels scoring fourteen.
Midway through the third quarter, the United States led by 24, but Australia’s 39-21 run with 5:05 remaining reduced that lead to six. However, Haliburton scored the next six points on three-pointers, regaining the lead at 92-80.
Australia twice brought the score within four, but in the last eight seconds, Booker went four for four from the line to guarantee the U.S. would win.
U.S. coach Steve Kerr stated, “We started turning the ball over in the third quarter.” We forfeited a great deal of points at the hoop. With back cutters and offensive boards, the game changed. We can learn a lot from it. Now is the better time to learn that lesson. And seeing this tape will be enjoyable for us. However, I think Australia is fantastic. They were excellent. They clashed. They were rather corporeal. made it a game in the final quarter and a half by taking it to us.
Once more, the second unit
The “second unit,” which included Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, Adebayo, Davis, and Booker, altered the outcome of the game, just like it did in the Canada game.
That was the team on the court when, with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter, the Americans knotted the game at 19-19 then went on a 20-4 run in less than five minutes to take a 39-23 lead.
For the first time in the second half, Kerr started the game with that lineup. But it’s already becoming evident that opponents who lack even close to the same depth will face severe difficulties when the United States uses its bench to replace All-Stars with other All-Stars.
“We must make use of our depth, which is our team’s strength,” Kerr remarked.
It is something that the Americans have historically taken advantage of. Although Dwyane Wade played off the bench in all eight games and finished sixth in minutes, he led the gold-medalist U.S. Olympic team in points in 2008.
Changes in Status
Turnovers are a major red flag for the United States at the moment.
FIBA games last 40 minutes as opposed to 48 minutes in the NBA. Due to the reduced number of possessions, it is much more crucial to keep the ball in play.
which the Americans carried out. A great deal.
Australia used the 18 turnovers the United States committed on Monday to fuel their comeback, scoring 25 points off mistakes in the second half alone. This came after the U.S. committed 15 turnovers in last week’s exhibition game over Canada.
“Our mishaps stem from a lack of concentration and efficiency,” stated Davis.
Watch for injuries
Due to a calf issue, Kevin Durant missed his second straight game. Since he only had one workout in between games, it doesn’t appear likely that he will play against Serbia on Wednesday.
Derrick White, who joined the team for his first practice on Sunday after traveling to Abu Dhabi over the weekend, did not participate either. After the Americans decided last week that it wasn’t in Leonard’s best interest to play this summer, White took Kawhi Leonard’s spot on the roster. Leonard has knee troubles.
