The Americans were able to win all five games on their pre-Olympic tour with the 87-76 exhibition victory in Shanghai. But the Australians were within seven points in the fourth quarter and won the second half 47-43.
Deron Williams finished with 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 turnovers in his least effective game so far. Carlos Boozer was the only U.S. player not to get off the bench. Bogut sat out for Australia with an ankle injury.
The U.S. will head to Beijing to open Olympic pool play Sunday (8:15 a.m. MT) against China.
Dwyane Wade led the U.S. with 22 points but Australia's Patrick Mills might have been the best guard on the floor. Mills, who plays in college at St. Mary's, had 13 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
The Americans. hit just 3 of 18 three-pointers and struggled as Australia sank into a zone defense that regularly didn't extend past the foul line. Carmelo Anthony went 4 of 13 overall and 0-for-4 from three-point range.
The U.S. was content to lauch jumpers, throw away passes and watch as Australia cut for layups on offense. They hadn't lost a single quarter in four previous exhibition games before the third quarter of Tuesday's game.
Australia went into halftime down 44-29 but won the third quarter 26-21. U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski had to call timeout for the first time in five exhibitions during the quarter.
Williams played 18 minutes and never got in rhythm. He got into the lane but threw a pass out of bounds looking for Chris Paul and was stripped on a drive in the lane.
Mills beat Williams from end to end on the fast break and flipped in a layup in the second quarter. In the final minute of the game, Mills nailed a jumper over Williams, who missed the only shot he took in the game.
The U.S. played Williams at point guard along with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Anthony and Wade to start the second quarter but brought back Jason Kidd from the bench after three minutes of ineffectiveness.
Australia closed within seven with 5:20 left as Joe Ingles knocked down a three-pointer. Starting guard C.J. Burton hit a number of big shots for the Australians on the way to finishing with 11 points.
