US men’s basketball team gets tested, beats Australia

Anthony scored 31 points, Irving went for 19, and the good ol’ United States of America held on for a 98-88 win over Australia in preliminary round play Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro. That one season played a very key role in Irving’s decision, and ultimately made him wait to make Team USA and skip out on joining Australia.

Irving, one of the two players vital in helping Team USA seal the victory, was close to competing for Team Australia’s basketball team back when he was a teenager, which would’ve made him ineligible for Team USA. He understood it would be a long climb for him to be recognized as one of the top point guards in the USA with Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Deron Williams among those ahead of him in the deep American pool.

Irving added a total of 19 points in the game.

But eventually he did make it onto the American squad and has become a tremendous leader already for the latest edition of the “Dream Team”. I looked at her, and I was like, “I’m a solid player, but I don’t think they’re going to have me on the Olympic team”.

“He was a huge part of the decision”, Irving said. And he had the capability of doing that.

“But it wasn’t like you had to put any pressure on him”.

The team staying on a luxury cruise ship could never relax until scoring the final five points in the last 27 seconds on free throws, with Irving hitting the first three.

With the win, the USA moves to 3-0 in Rio and will look to keep rolling against Serbia on Friday.

“We knew it was going to be tough. As a young fella, he did tell me I had a chance to be a part of something bigger than myself”, according to a report from NBC Sports. “I think it will be a really good game”.

“It’s insane to see how it has worked out”. Their roster includes San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova, Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles and Dallas Mavericks center Andrew Bogut.

The U.S. bigs found themselves in foul trouble all night long with both DeAndre Jordan and DeMarcus Cousins collecting four fouls, but Draymond Green stepped in and hit down a few big baskets to help end Aussie runs.

“I’ll say, g’day”, he said, “But we’ll probably catch up more when everything is finished”. So far, Team Australia has been the only team in the Rio Olympics who managed to scare the mighty Team USA.

United States’ Kyrie Irving (10) reacts after he was called for a foul during a men’s basketball game against Venezuela at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016.