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NACHO DUKE
Updated
The United States endured its second warm-up match for the Olympics with difficulty. After beating Canada in the first (86-72), the American team had to sweat to defeat Australia (92-98) in Abu Dhabi, which will be Spain’s first rival in the Olympic eventThe push of the Oceanics in the last quarter (31-22) gave a scare to those who will be favorites in Paris. They passed from winning by 24 (41-65) to finding themselves only four up in the last minute (90-94).
However, there were some conditions: Kevin Durant was out due to a problem in a calf, Derrick White, Kawhi Leonard’s replacement, also did not play and Steve Kerr’s rotations looked like they were done with a stopwatch in hand. All substitutes played 18 minutes and of the headlines only Anthony Edwards was on track in the final stretch.
The Americans left from the start with an impressive quintet: Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James and a Joel Embiidwho seems to have a hard time adapting to FIBA basketball. Statistically, The best was Anthony Davis who, coming off the bench and playing only the aforementioned 18 minutes, ended up with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Devin Booker reached 16 pointsincreasing his account with the final free throws, and Edwards sum 14.
Australia was led by Rockets center Jock Landale had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assistsand Josh Giddeyrecently traded from the Thunder to the Bulls, who He came close to a triple-double with 17+8+7although with a discreet 7/18 in field goals.
From the walk to the suffering
The Americans started off in control and by the end of the first quarter they were already 11 points ahead (21-32).At half-time, the game looked like a walk (37-53)and more after being reached a maximum of 24 points in the third act (41-65)However, Australia’s reaction kept things exciting until the final moments. The final period started with a score of 61-76, but A 10-0 partial tightened the score to 80-86Patty Mills had missed a three-pointer earlier to bring her team within three points. Tyrese Haliburton, however, did not forgive. With two consecutive triples from the same cornerI distanced the NBA again.
The 80-92 with 2:30 left seemed definitivebut the Australians still had some gas left. Despite their poor 4/18 from three, Landale and Giddey built a a 10-2 to stay at 90-94 after a 2+1 from the pivot. Booker came to the rescueHe had scored the only basket in that quarter and did not miss any of the four free throws he shot in the final seconds. He scored the last six points for the United States, which gave them their second victory, with suffering, on their way to Paris..
