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A highly successful semifinal against the United States or Spain awaits the Boomers if they can beat Argentina in the quarterfinals of the Olympics.
Australia, undefeated and at the top of their group, tied Argentina in the top-eight draw in Tokyo on the night.
The United States, which finished as the best team in second place and effectively qualified as one of the top favorites, tied Spain in the bottom half of the table.
Spain had previously lost a rocker group match to Luka Doncic’s Slovenia to be relegated to second place in their group.
Patty Mills # 5 of Team Australia celebrates during Australia Men’s Basketball Preliminary Round Group B game against Germany on day eight of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
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Slovenia will play Germany, while France must beat Italy to be among the four finalists in the top half of the table.
The Boomers are looking for gold and will be confident of a victory over the Argentine team in an exhibition game before arriving in Tokyo, Patty Mills hit a triple on the buzzer in a three-point victory.
Beyond that, there is the United States or Spain, full of stars, who have beaten the Boomers in the last World Cup and Olympics to deny them a medal.
Devin Booker # 15 of the United States team drives to the basket against Ondrej Sehnal # 19 of the Czech Republic team during the second half of a men’s basketball
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The United States are defending champions, but they have been exposed as of late, losing the World Cup medals and defeated by Australia in their last two meetings, including last month.
Spain beat Australia 89-88 in the bronze medal match in Rio courtesy of a questionable late foul, while they beat Australia by 11 points less to win the 2019 World Cup semi-final in double overtime.
“We have to find an altar somewhere and burn a sacrifice to the basketball gods, because they’re not kissing our ass yet,” assistant coach and former star center Luc Longley said after that second loss.
Luis Scola # 4 of the Argentina team celebrates a play against Japan during the second half of a Group C match of the Men’s Basketball Preliminary Round in Tokyo
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‘I feel stabbed in the heart for that… in Rio I also feel like we deserved to win that… I don’t know what we have to do.’
In a new system with a group of four teams, the USA threw a cat among the pigeons in an opening loss to France.
However, they have since hit their straps and with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton and Jayson Tatum will go head-to-head with a Spanish team led by dynamic point guard Ricky Rubio and brothers Gasol Marc and Pau.
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