The Australian Boomers are on the brink of an early Olympic elimination after losing to Greece by six points in their final group game.
To be assured a spot in the knockout stages, the Boomers had to win on Friday night (AEST).
Instead, they now have a nervous wait for other results to see if their one win over Spain earlier in the tournament will be enough for them to progress.
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Having lost by six points only to Greece, the Boomers can still qualify if Canada defeats Spain in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Had they lost by more than nine but less than 16 points, they would have needed Canada to beat Spain and for other results in separate groups to go their way.
A loss of over 16 points would have made it impossible.
The 77-71 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s side means Australia will only finish second if the in-form Canadians beat Spain on Saturday — but it could have been worse.
A shocking 28-12 second quarter saw Australia down as many as 19 points — a margin that would have meant a guaranteed early exit.
The Boomers did enough to avoid the hairiest of scenarios possible, with Patty Mills (13 points) and Dyson Daniels (11 points, eight assists, six rebounds) hitting three pointers to cut the lead to two points in the final minutes.
Jock Landale continued his fine tournament with a 17-point, eight-rebound double-double while point guard Josh Giddey (nine points, 10 rebounds, six assists, five turnovers) struggled in the first half but finished strongly.
Antetokounmpo (20 points, seven rebounds, six assists) kept coming though and, crucially, had help.
Thomas Walkup (18 points) hit four-of-seven triples while Dinos Mitoglou and Vasilis Toliopoulos both scored 13 points.
Walkup’s fourth three-pointer made it a seven point margin just as the Boomers looked set to run them down in the final 90 seconds.
Australia made just 10 of their 21 free throws, the loss coming after a defeat of Spain and loss to Canada in what’s been dubbed the Olympics’ group of death.
It was a bittersweet win for Greece, who now need Spain to upset the unbeaten Canada to progress.
– With AAP
