MEN’S BASKETBALL: U.S. 89 – Australia 79
ATHENS – It was happening again, and you could feel the same murmur bouncing through Helliniko Indoor Arena, you could hear the same buzz – and the same sound of American basketball players talking to themselves.
Australia was hitting around 71 percent of its shots from behind the 3-point arc, and it was sneaking behind the American defense, and it was streaking to a 12-point lead, and if you weren’t actually watching this happen live you might have thought someone had slipped in a tape of the U.S.-Puerto Rico game from four days before.
“It was weird,” Stephon Marbury would say later. “It really did feel a little bit like déjà vu.”
To a point, it did. Then a funny thing happened: The United States, for the first time in this Olympic basketball competition, started to look like something other than a pickup team. It got the ball inside to Tim Duncan regularly. It ball-hawked on defense. It got out on the fast break.
The result was an 89-79 victory over the Aussies that moved the Americans’ record to 2-1 in Group B preliminary play, all but assuring them a spot in the medal round.
“That was as good as we’ve played so far this week, and it was encouraging to me especially because we had to come back to do it,” said Allen Iverson, who scored 16 points in 23 minutes. “I think we’re starting to get more comfortable with each other, and I think it’s beginning to show.”
At first, all that showed was the Americans’ vulnerability, which has become a daily exhibition at these games. The Australians took 12 3-pointers in the first half, made eight of them, and had the United States falling back on its heels across most of the first half, twice seizing 12-point leads.
Then, after the Americans pulled to within 51-47 at the break, Australia (1-2) sprinted out of the half on a 7-2 run, extending the lead to 58-49, and it started to look as if tomorrow’s game with Lithuania might become the earliest must-win in the history of USA Basketball.
But this is where the pieces finally fell into place for the Americans. Duncan, who finished with a game-high 18 points, connected on four straight free throws. Lamar Odom made a jumper. Shawn Marion, who came out of no- where to put up a huge game (16 points, eight rebounds), made a layup on the break. Suddenly, the Aussies’ cushion was gone.
Even though they took a 67-65 lead into the fourth quarter, when Duncan made that disappear with a layup 11 seconds into the final period, they were never heard from again.
“We’re satisfied with what we did tonight,” said Shane Heal, a former NBA player whose 17 points paced Australia. “I remember a time very well when you could get any assortment of NBA players and throw them against us and we’d be losing by 25 points before we ever had a jump ball. We really believed we could win this game tonight, which is refreshing.”
For the Americans, who now take such confident exhortations from other players in stride, it was even more so.
“No one’s gonna hand us our medal,” Duncan said. “We’re going to have to earn it.”
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Hoop scene
Remaining Games
Tomorrow
Australia vs. Puerto Rico
Lithuania vs. United States
Angola vs. Greece
Monday
Lithuania vs. Australia
United States vs. Angola
Greece vs. Puerto Rico
Quarters, Aug. 26
Semis, Aug. 27
Final, Aug. 28
*
Group B Standings
Country – W – L
Lithuania 3 0
Puerto Rico 2 1
United States 2 1
Greece 1 2
Australia 1 2
Angola 0 3
Top four teams reach quarterfinals.