Patty Mills has led the Boomers to an opening-day win on the FIBA World Cup, defeating Finland by 26 factors.
Key factors:
- Australia had a sluggish begin, trailing on the first break
- Patty Mills led all scorers with 25 factors
- The Boomers will face Germany of their second match on Sunday
Australia overcame an eight-point deficit late within the second quarter to report a 98-72 win in Okinawa.
Mills had a game-high 25 factors, whereas Josh Giddy completed the sport strongly recording 14 factors, 9 rebounds and eight assists.
The Boomers began off sluggish, trailing by 4 factors on the finish of the primary quarter.
A surge on the finish of the second quarter, led by Mills, Giddy and Joe Ingles, swung momentum in favour of Australia to take a five-point lead into half-time.
The Boomers moved into the next gear within the second half which Finland couldn’t match.
“I feel the primary recreation of any main match like this, everybody’s going to return out sturdy, motivated and able to go,” Mills mentioned post-game.
“I feel each groups performed very properly within the first half, however we had been in a position to settle in, get used to what we wish to run at each ends of the ground.”
The Boomers have voiced their lofty ambitions for this yr’s World Cup, believing they’ll take gold after securing a bronze medal on the Tokyo Olympic Video games two yr’s in the past.
“We’re in it for the long term, our objective is to be the final staff standing, so settle into our consolation zone is what we’re on the lookout for,” Mills mentioned.
“Each considered one of our particular person folks within the locker room — gamers, coaches, workers — is prepared to sacrifice and do no matter it takes to have the ability to win this gold medal.”
Australia’s second group match will probably be on Sunday towards Germany, earlier than going through Japan on Tuesday.
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