FIBA World Cup 2023: Australia lower boom against Finland in Group E opener
Australia are off to a flying start, trouncing young Finland 98-72 behind 25 points from Patty Mills and a 14-9-8 night from Josh Giddey in his World Cup debut.
Basketball
Australia launched their FIBA World Cup 2023 campaign with a convincing 98-72 Group E win over Finland on Friday (25 August).
Australia’s Patty Mills led all scorers with 25 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Josh Giddey nearly registered a triple-double of 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in his World Cup debut.
The 20-year-old Oklahoma City Thunder playmaker became the first player since a certain LeBron James in 2006 to mark 10-5-5 in his maiden World Cup game.
“I had no idea but it’s cool to be in company with guys like that,” Giddey said of joining James’ company.
“It’s always about the group, it’s always about the team and we’re lucky to have a deep 12 man team. I play great, I play bad, what matters is we win the game.
“For me it’s my first time putting on a real Boomers jersey so a lot of excitement, a lot of emotions going through me when you got your country on your back.”
Lauri Markkanen had 19 points and eight rebounds for Finland, who let the affair slip away in the second half after keeping it close in the first.
Finland led by as many as eight before half-time and it wasn’t until Joe Ingles hit a step-back 3 with less than two minutes in the second quarter that Australia finally went ahead, 41-40.
Australia came out of the break ahead 45-40 and went on an 11-4 run to start the third quarter, taking a double-digit lead.
By the beginning of the fourth, the Boomers were comfortably up 70-54 and never looked back the rest of the way, caging the Wolf Pack behind strong defense.
Markkanenn said Finland - who play hosts Japan on Sunday - made too many mistakes to stay in the game against an Australian eyeing the top of the podium.
“It was a two-sided game,” the Utah Jazz All-Star said. “Australia’s one of the top teams in the world for a reason, they really punished us from our mistakes and our live turnovers.
“And we didn’t execute as well as we did in the first half. There’s a lot of positives but there’s a lot we can get better at. We’re just going to watch the film from this game, see what we did well and what Australia did well.”
Giddey wasn’t resting on his laurels after the game, with Germany already on his mind.
“It’s hard in FIBA because it’s a shorter game,” he said. “Slow starts can cost you the ballgame.
“We were lucky tonight because we were switched on from that second quarter onwards but we play Germany in a few nights. A slow start against a team like that, it’s hard to dig yourself out of a hole.”