The Boomers have nearly pulled off a shock comeback win against a stacked US team in their Olympic warm-up in Abu Dhabi, but will still continue their Paris build-up hugely encouraged by a impressive display. Having trailed by 24 points midway through the third quarter Australia cut the deficit to six with 5:05 left after a 39-21 run.
That was the group on the floor when the Americans took a game that was tied at 19-19 with 3:15 left in the first and turned it into a 39-23 lead — a 20-4 run in a span of just over five minutes. By half-time it was 53-37. “The strength of our team is our depth and we have to utilise our depth,” Kerr said. That extra quality showed in the willingness to try, and ability to land, three pointers.