The Boomers have begun their Tokyo Olympics campaign with a gritty 84-67 victory over Nigeria at Saitama Super Arena.
After a tight opening two quarters, the Boomers held a narrow three-point lead at half-time and it was not until the final quarter that they began to truly exert their dominance.
Australia’s performance could not be described as polished, with 22 turnovers set to be scrutinised in their post-game review.
Patty Mills, playing two days after serving as one of Australia’s flag-bearers at the opening ceremony, scored a game-high 25 points.
Dante Exum and Joe Ingles made valuable contributions for the Boomers with 11 points each.
Obi Emegano led the scoring for Nigeria with a 12-point haul.
The Boomers, who have never won an Olympic medal, will next play Italy on Wednesday and then Germany on Saturday to conclude the group stage.
Nigeria, featuring a roster laden with NBA players, was always going to be a tricky opponent for the Boomers.
Nigerian coach Mike Brown used a stronger line-up than the one that went down to the Boomers in the pre-Olympics exhibition series in Las Vegas earlier this month.
The opening quarter was a see-sawing affair, with the lead changing hands between the Boomers and Nigeria on more than one occasion.
The Boomers led 21-14 at one stage but three consecutive three-pointers — including two from Chimezie Metu — saw Nigeria moved ahead 23-21 as quarter-time approached.
Exum landed a late basket for the Boomers to level scores at 23-23 at the end of the first period. The arm wrestle continued in the second quarter, however the Boomers were able to establish a slight buffer on the scoreboard late in the term, with a Mills three-pointer and an Exum slam dunk among the highlights.
The Boomers reached half-time with a 43-40 advantage and they quickly opened a nine-point lead early in the third quarter off the back of three-pointers to Mills and Matthew Dellavedova.
The lead stretched out to 53-42 as the quarter progressed but Nigeria clawed its way back and trailed by just four points with two minutes left in the term.
The Boomers were able to give themselves some breathing space when Ingles drained a three-pointer to set up a 58-52 scoreline at three-quarter time.
The final quarter saw the Australians lift another gear and they eventually closed out the game with a 26-15 return for the quarter.
Olyroos fall short against Spain
The Olyroos battled hard against a highly fancied Spanish outfit, but ultimately fell short thanks to a late Mikel Oyarzabal goal.
The Real Sociedad star scored with a glancing header in the 81st minute to break Australian hearts, after Spain had enjoyed long periods of dominance through the match.
The Spanish side is full of players who recently turned out for the full national team at Euro 2020, and is among the favourites for the gold medal, making it even more impressive that the Olyroos managed to keep them at bay for so long.
Though Australia didn’t match their opponents to the same extent they did against Argentina, they never just sat back with the aim to hang on for a draw.
Even when under pressure, they attempted to break forward in attack, expecially through the impressive Daniel Arzani, but ultimately Spain were too good and deserved the win.
The Olyroos still have a good chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals, currently sitting second in the group with the game against Egypt — on paper the easiest of the group stage — to come.
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