In Abu Dhabi, the United States won 98-92 against Australia's Jock Landale (20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists). Like Anthony Edwards (14 points), Team USA players alternated between very good and very bad, but the slaughter of Anthony Davis (17 points, 14 rebounds) and the Boomers' clumsiness from the outside (4 out of 17 at 3-pointers) allowed them to avoid an embarrassing hold-up.
The spectators at the Etihad Arena first witnessed a 3-point contest. After three minutes, the Americans and Australians were already 6 out of 7 from long range, and on the Team USA side, LeBron James and Anthony Edwards were on fire. Especially the Wolves guard, who started in place of Devin Booker. After five minutes, Edwards already had 11 points at 100% shooting. But the American defense left something to be desired and Josh Giddey's teammates remained in contact (19-19) by dominating in the paint. After seven minutes, the Boomers had scored 12 points in the paint, compared to 0 for Steve Kerr's players. The US coach began to make changes, and the Davis-Adebayo pair changed the game. They locked down access to the circle, and punished on the other side of the court. After ten minutes, Team USA had broken away: 32 – 21.
Anthony Davis more interesting than Joe Embiid
Earlier than against Canada, the American defense stifles the Australians, and Jrue Holiday gives 16 points of lead (39-23). To work on automatisms, Kerr changes his five players at once, and puts back his starters. And we have the confirmation that it defends less. Josh Giddey takes advantage to score easily, and Australia comes back under the bar of 10 points (39-30). The level of play has dropped, and the Americans are less serious. Fortunately, Stephen Curry unlocks his 3-point counter and Jayson Tatum wakes up the whole room with a big dunk baseline (46-30). The Celtics winger takes advantage of a caviar from Edwards to crush a new dunk. The American power has its effect, and after a 3-pointer, Embiid goes to get the And-1, which he misses. At the break, the United States leads 53-37.
After the locker room, there was a change of plan as Steve Kerr started with his more defensive second five. And we had confirmation that the Adebayo-Davis pair was doing a lot of damage, and the Americans took a lead of up to 23 points (64-41). Team USA managed its lead, and as in the first half, the second five showed its limits in defense. Even though Kerr made small changes, Adebayo's exit weighed on the paint, and Dyson Daniels did some nice things. Fortunately, Davis held the fort on both sides of the court. At the end of the 3rd quarter, he was already in a double-double, and the Americans still led by 15 points (76-61).
Tyler Haliburton has the last word
The 4th quarter looks more like “garbage time” with hurrah basketball, and Giddey takes advantage to bring the Boomers back to -11 (86-75). Kerr has seen enough, and he calls Adebayo back to help Davis in the paint. Except that Patty Mills shoots a 3-pointer, and the gap is only eight points (86-80). There are five minutes left to play… and Kerr leaves Davis on the bench. After several misses by Anthony Edwards on personal actions, it is Tyrese Haliburton who gives some breathing room with two 3-pointers in the corner (92-80). Team USA follows up with a big defense to force a 24-second violation. We think it's over, but Team USA will scare itself until the end, finally winning 98-92. They will need to show more consistency in defense and in the passing game in attack to avoid a disappointment against Nikola Jokic's Serbia.
