For the first time in this Olympic tournament, the United States found themselves trailing at halftime. The Australian side was the first team they faced in Rio that had the talent a to challenge the United States.
In the end, though, the US survived and won 98-88.
The US was in danger until mid-way in the third quarter when they slowly took the lead away from the Boomers and kept them at bay the rest of the night.
The Aussies’ cohesiveness was evident as the forced the US to get away from a more selfish brand of basketball that was good enough against China and Venezuela, but wasn’t as effective against a stronger opponent.