The Australian Boomers have booked a spot in the Olympic Quarter Finals with a stunning 106-75 victory over Great Britain.
The Boomers started slowly and continued playing catch-up for the remainder of the first half. While Patty Mills kept the scoreboard ticking over with his 14 first half points the Boomers’ defense was horrible, allowing Great Britain to shoot 53% from the field in the first 20 minutes.
Turnovers were the biggest issue of the first half and Great Britain made the Aussies pay, converting at will. Good ball movement also created open shots from behind the arc, as the Boomers (and supporters) were in damage control early trailing 36-46 at the main break.
The start of the second half was like a nightmare for the Boomers as they gave up offensive rebounds and continued to turn the ball over. After only 70 seconds, the Great Britain lead had ballooned out to 15 points.
Australia steadied immediately after the timeout however behind a couple of triples from Matthew Dellavedova. Patty Mills then chipped in with two transition baskets and then a three of his own that prompted chest bumps and a Great Britain timeout.
By the 4.50 mark in the third, Mills had scored his 25th point, Dellavedova had hit his third shot from beyond the arc and the Boomers had taken the lead 56-55. As the clock ticked down to 4.00 remaining in the period, “Delly” and Mills were responsible for all 22 Boomer points for the term.
Joe Ingles and Patty Mills feeling good during play vs. Great Britain.
With thanks to eight minute run of high-octane offense paired with much improved rebounding, the Boomers took the third quarter 30-14 and held a 66-60 edge at the final change.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was a blur of green and gold as the Boomers ripped out the Brits’ collective hearts and stomped on them. Mills was amazing, Ingles was deadly and before you could say “doing an all-nighter was totally worth it”, the Boomers had put an 18-0 run in the books on their way to a 30 point lead.
The final score saw Australia defeat Great Britain 106-75 to record their highest score of the tournament to date. Patty Mills finished the game with a massive 39 points to go with five rebounds on 9/15 shooting from inside the arc and 5/7 from outside. The Boomers outscored Great Britain 70-29 in the second half, scoring 40 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Australia shot an incredible 57% from the field including 13/24 from beyond the arc. The Boomers will finish fourth in their Group now thanks to an unlikely win by Russia over Spain. This will put them up against Team USA in the Quarter Finals, who have just survived an almighty scare against Lithuania.
The stage is set for another huge game in the Quarters, however Australia will face Russia next to complete the Group fixture.
Game on!
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