Josh Giddey and Jock Landale have shone against a stacked United States outfit to offer some Olympic hope as the Boomers' gritty comeback fell short in an Abu Dhabi exhibition.
Australia trailed by 24 points midway through the third quarter but twice trimmed the gap to four in a 98-92 pre-Olympic loss on Tuesday morning (AEST).
Centre Jock Landale found space around the rim to lead Australia's scoring with 20 points on nine-of-12 shooting, adding seven rebounds and six assists.
Josh Giddey (17 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) piloted the team confidently while Dyson Daniels (14 points), Will Magnay (eight) - the first big man used off the bench - and Jack McVeigh (nine) had an impact off the pine.
Patty Mills (five points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals) started alongside Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Landale and Japan-based Nick Kay.
But the talisman's cold shooting form continued, Mills hitting just two-of-eight attempts in 22 minutes.
Josh Green played 19 minutes but centre Duop Reath and swingman Joe Ingles saw just two and three minutes of court time respectively.
Guard Matthew Dellavedova played just four minutes but produced two assists, two rebounds and a steal in a crucial late-game cameo.
Giddey and Landale both had their opportunities restricted in NBA campaigns for Oklahoma City and Houston this season and will take huge confidence from their displays considering the significance of their roles in Paris.
Josh Giddey cuts the lead for Australia!
— NBA (@NBA) July 15, 2024
🇺🇸 vs. 🇦🇺 live on FS1 pic.twitter.com/WGzziNE19r
The Boomers battled to contain teams in a disappointing World Cup campaign last year, coach Brian Goorjian vowing to become the "best in the world" on the defensive end in France.
"The exciting part was we got better as the game went on," he said of the defending Olympic bronze medallists.
"My job right now is to convince my team, 'How do you win?'
"We came back with the style we wanted to play and it came through the defence.
"In the second half (we had) the grit, got back to the bump and grind and controlling the tempo of the game."
The US began with an elite quintet of Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James and Anthony Edwards.
And they backed it up with Tyrese Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker.
That was the group on the floor when the Americans blew open a tied game with a 20-4 run in five minutes either side of quarter time.
Davis scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Booker had 16 points, Anthony Edwards 14 and James, Adebayo and Embiid 10 each.
The Boomers play Nikola Jokic's Serbia on Wednesday morning before flying on to France, where Olympic pool games against a stacked Canada, Spain and Greece begin in Lille next weekend.
"This (preparation) is great for us; my fourth Olympics and I don't think we've played a better basketball team than we've played tonight, man for man," Goorjian said.
"And we're coming up against another (NBA) MVP (Jokic) and a team (Serbia) that won the (2016) silver medal."
US coach Steve Kerr, who is combining the role with his post at Golden State, tipped his cap to Goorjian's men.
"I give Australia a ton of credit. They were great. They fought. They were really physical. Took it to us in the last quarter-and-a-half and really made it a game," he said.
With AP.
