Team USA men’s basketball had a challenge on their hands in Wednesday night’s preliminary game with Australia and Twitter users had plenty to say about it.
In Wednesday night’s preliminary basketball action from the Rio Olympics, the United States men’s team got their first test of the Summer Games. Australia held a five-point lead at halftime, showing just how competitive a unit they are.
Naturally, the fact that the U.S. squad wasn’t crushing another foreign opponent led to lots of reactions online. In particular, social media users on Twitter became active during the game giving their thoughts on the ongoing United States’ struggles and the potential outcome.
can't sleep on both Australia and France cause they both got 4 nba players on the roster each
— ashlyn🦠 (@nhobhsa) August 10, 2016
When in doubt, Melo. #TeamUSA
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) August 10, 2016
Uncle Drew and Melo were straight up clutch for #TeamUSA 🇺🇸
— Bustaaa14 (@MatthewBusta) August 11, 2016
Even if Team USA and Australia meet again for gold, it's hard to believe the Aussies can play better than they did in losing by 10.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 10, 2016
Team USA's last 83 games (all under Coach K):
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 10, 2016
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLWWWWWWWWWWWW
Australia features a duo of talented players on their roster who both are stars in the NBA in their own right. Matthew Dellavedova was a member of the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers while Andrew Bogut was part of the Golden State Warriors team that won the title two seasons ago. Both will play for different teams in the league this upcoming season.
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The record moved Coach Mike Krzyzewski to an impressive record of 83-1 in his last 84 games coached. It also saw Carmelo Anthony pass LeBron James as the all-time leading scorer for Team USA.
Ultimately, Team USA prevailed 98-88 to move to 3-0 so far in preliminary games for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony were the difference makers in the fourth quarter while as a team Australia was held to just 34 points for the second half.