Boomers open World Cup campaign with a win over Finland

August 26, 2023 9:20 am.by Rowan Anderson

The Australian Boomers opened up their FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign with a dominant win over Finland in Okinawa on Friday night.

The Australian national side went into the tournament ranked number three in the world with their first opponent being the world number 24, the Finland Wolf Pack.

In the 19th edition of the tournament, the Boomers started as $11 chances to take the title and were aware that no side to lose their opening game had ever taken the title.

In the opening game, the Boomers lined up as $1.14 favourites with online bookmakers against the Finnish side, paying $5.50.

Coach Brian Goorjian started captain Patty Mills, centre Nick Kay, young gun Josh Giddey, big-man Duop Reath and NBA small forward Matisse Thybulle.

At the end of the first quarter, Finland led 21-17 thanks to a six-point contribution from Mikael Jantunen and five points from both NBA star Lauri Markkanen and shooting guard Elias Valtonen.

For the Boomers, Patty Mills had a stat-stuffer of a quarter with four points, three rebounds, one assist and two steals.

Finland shot at a 42.9% clip from three-point range while the Boomers were kept to 20% from deep in the first quarter.

Heading into the second quarter, Dallas Maverick guard Josh Green joined Dante Exum, Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, and Nick Kay on the court for the Boomers.

Josh Giddey added three points to the stat sheet for the Australian side in the first thirty seconds of the quarter, with a layup and free throw made.

Captain Patty Mills returned to court soon after replacing Dante Exum adding that experience and leading from the front.

The Boomers hit the lead with a third three pointer from Joe Ingles with a minute remaining of the half.

Australia went into halftime leading 45-40 thanks to three players – Josh Giddey (10pts, 5 rebounds, 4 assists), Joe Ingles (11pts) and Patty Mills (12pts, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals).

The third quarter was all the Boomers as they ran away with the lead thanks to Dante Exum hitting eight points, including two huge three-point shots.

With a quarter left to play, the Boomers had a dominant 16-point lead with the score board showing 70-54, setting up a great opening win for the men in green and gold.

The final quarter was a clinic by Mills, as he put up nine individual points along with five from Jack White and Josh Giddey with four.

The siren rang out on a 98-72 win by the Australians to kick off their World Cup campaign.

Patty Mills not only led as captain, but he led by example as top point scorer with 25 points that included two three pointers and nine from 14 shots from the two.

Mills went to work on the glass coming away with eight rebounds to cap off a strong start to the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The future of Australian basketball, Josh Giddey flirted with a triple double finishing on 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in great signs for this tournament.

Next Australia will take on world number 11 Germany on August 27 with tip off at 6:30pm AEST before clashing with Japan on August 29 at 9.10pm AEST.

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