Mills shoots Australia to first-ever win over world champions USA
MELBOURNE: San Antonio Spurs' guard Patty Mills sank a game-high 30 points as Australia beat the United States for the first time ever Saturday, stunning the basketball world champions 98-94 in a huge upset.
Andrew Bogut added 16 points with nine rebounds and four assists while Joe Ingles scored 15 and seven assists in front of 52,079 fans in Melbourne -- the biggest ever crowd to watch a game of hoops in Australia.
Boston's Kemba Walker led USA with 22 points off the bench, but it wasn't enough to prevent a rare defeat for Gregg Popovich's world number one team in a massive wake-up call ahead of the World Cup in China, which tips off on August 31.
"The support has been amazing. We're very proud to represent these fans and in the right way. We're doing it as a team, as a group," said veteran Mills, who was electric in the fourth quarter.
"This is a building block for us, we are just taking it stepby-step. It's just nice to see our progress."
Popovich's squad lacks a host of top NBA stars with the likes of LeBron James, James Harden, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard all opting out of the World Cup.
But it still boasts plenty of young talent and they comfortably beat Australia 102-86 in a warm-up game on Thursday, on the back of a 9081 victory over second-ranked Spain in California this month.
"We need to congratulate the Boomers, they were really great tonight," said Popovich, who referred to Mills, who he coaches at the Spurs, as "a pain in the arse". - AFP