Boomers 'gold vibes' crushed by Durant's USA

August 5, 2021 admin Uncategorized 0

"Gold vibes only" had been the catch-cry throughout the Boomers' stirring run to the Olympic Games semi-finals.

But it will be a battle for bronze instead after Australia was outclassed 97-78 by Team USA today as a horror third quarter proved decisive in Tokyo.

The Boomers led by 15 points midway through the second quarter with Chris Goulding red hot and some swarming defence giving the lacklustre Americans fits.

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Patty Mills #6 of Australia defends against Kevin Durant #7 of the United States United States during the Australia V USA semi final basketball match for men at the Saitama Super Arena during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games on August 5, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

But Australia's lead was cut to three by halftime and USA continued their epic comeback after the break.

Behind Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant (23 points) the Americans won the third quarter 32-10 (as part of a 48-14 stretch) to completely break the back of the Boomers.

NBA champion Jrue Holiday made Patty Mills' life a misery (5/14 FG shooting) as Boomers legends Andrew Gaze and Andrew Bogut questioned why a timeout wasn't called by coach Brian Goorjian amid a 17-0 USA run.

Australia – who has never won a men's basketball medal at the Olympics – will now play for bronze on Saturday against the loser of tonight's France vs Slovenia semi-final.

"We came out the right way but we had a small patch in the second half where we kind of lost it a little bit," Boomers centre Jock Landale said.

"We've got to go back, review tape – we still have a chance for a medal so that's where our heads are at.

Jock Landale #13 of Team Australia and teammate Patty Mills #5 react against Team United States during the first half of a Men's Basketball quarterfinals game on day thirteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Saitama Super Arena on August 05, 2021 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

"We've got to move on to the next game as quickly as possible and see if we can make history."

Landale has just landed his first NBA contract with the San Antonio Spurs – who are coached by USA mentor Gregg Popovich.

"I'm not really thinking about that right now," Landale said.

United States's Zachary Lavine scores over Australia's Joe Ingles.

"I'm pretty bummed with this. We had a good opportunity there in the first half, but we let it slip.

"They're a helluva team, it's going to be tough to get a medal and good luck to them."

Mills was Australia's leading scorer with 15 while Dante Exum had 14 off the bench.

Boomers star Patty Mills attempts a layup against Team USA.

Durant was helped out by Devin Booker (20 points) and Holiday's all-round excellence (11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists).

"Everything fell in line for us in that second half and that's who we are," Durant said.

"They hit us with a nice punch. We knew that team was going to get us down early and see how we'd respond."

Here's how basketball Twitter reacted:

https://twitter.com/wwos/status/1423161925177946113?s=20https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1423157200550256644?s=20https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/1423161224238288900?s=20https://twitter.com/phillutton78/status/1423155438401376257?s=20https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc/status/1423153294495547397?s=20https://twitter.com/StephenCurry30/status/1423155438569152512?s=20https://twitter.com/ringernba/status/1423156258366922754?s=20https://twitter.com/ThompsonScribe/status/1423154430120132609?s=20https://twitter.com/rodger/status/1423156341594595329?s=20https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/1423170667445297156?s=20

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