Team USA Basketball Advance to Gold Medal Round After Defeating Australia

After defeating Team Australia in a dominant 97-78 victory, Team USA Basketball advances to the Gold Medal Round with a chance to win their 4th gold medal in a row. There isn’t a team in the Olympics that can match Team USA at their best when it comes to defense, rebounding, ball movement, and three-point shooting. NBA champions Kevin Durant and Jrue Holiday lead the way, displaying the kind of skill and poise that is required at the olympic level.

Australia had spent a long time preparing for this matchup. For Australia, who were in their fifth Olympic semifinal and yearning for their first win, this game meant everything. The Boomers came out with a clever game plan, and crisp execution. The Australians unleashed double teams and swift rotations that caught the Americans off guard.

Team USA found their rhythm

The Americans stumbled into a 15-point second-quarter hole to Australia, looking lost on defense and off-kilter on offense. However, a Gregg Popovich timeout shifted the Americans’ performance and the game’s momentum. Midway through the second quarter, with their gold-medal streak in peril, the Americans dominated the Australians. Team USA Basketball came out with a 48-14 run that put them up 74-55 after three periods. With 23 points, Kevin Durant led the Americans and was able to rest for much of the second half.  Jrue Holiday added 11 points and Devin Booker had 20.

“There were a lot of guys on this team that had straight faces and were ready to play when we were down 15 [points], strong faces is what Pop said,” said Durant. “They came out and hit us with a nice haymaker, and we were able to get back up and get that lead back.”.

Team Australia has seven players with NBA experience, and are led by Patty Mills, one of the greatest scorers in Olympics history. Mills announced this week that he will leave Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs after ten seasons. “I’m thrilled with the victory obviously, but when I looked him in the eyes, I felt badly,” Popovich said. “Because they want it at bad as any of us, that was a little bit sad. But that’s what we all do, we all try to win.”

To win the gold medal, the United States must defeat France. On July 25, Team USA was defeated by the French, who pulled off the shocking upset to defeat them 83-76.

REMATCH IN THE GOLD MEDAL GAME 🚨

Team USA vs France 10:30PM EST on Friday night 🍿 pic.twitter.com/EtzVYwulnt

— Overtime (@overtime) August 5, 2021