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Rio de Janeiro • Australia jumped over an Olympic basketball hurdle Wednesday, and now the Boomers want to do more in this tournament.
Rest clearly did the Aussies some good in advance of a 90-64 quarterfinal defeat of Lithuania, but they're not resting on their success so far. The Boomers figure if they're going to bring home the country's first medal in men's basketball, they might as well make it gold.
Australia will meet Croatia or Serbia in Friday's semifinals, appearing at that stage of the Olympics for the first time since 2000. The team is assured of a spot in Sunday's bronze medal game. Considering they've lost only a competitive contest to the USA in Rio, the Aussies are justified in having bigger ambitions than third place.
The Boomers continue to look like the second-best team in the tournament, having earned the No. 2 seed in Group A behind the Americans. They dominated Lithuania from the start, with guards Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova combining for 31 points in the first half as Australia built a 48-30 lead. The advantage became 70-43 by the end of the third quarter.
Australia played outstanding defense and its offense remained sharp. Jazz swingman Joe Ingles posted 10 points and five assists in 27 minutes and former University of Utah center Andrew Bogut contributed seven rebounds, six points and six assists in 20 minutes.
The Aussies had some sloppy stretches, but otherwise executed well. "When we do, we look great," Ingles said.
Ingles played for the Australian teams that lost in the quarterfinals of the previous two Olympics, so he recognized the significance of Wednesday's breakthrough. So did everyone else.
"Obviously, all of us involved with this team understand the history," said coach Andrej Lemanis. "We can't change what's happened in the past. We change what happens [now]."
And with an 11 a.m. tipoff Rio time Wednesday, the Boomers will have longer to recover for Friday's game than the Croatia-Serbia winner. That quarterfinal game was scheduled to end around midnight.
Mills, who finished with 24 points, and Bogut benefited from sitting out one game each in preliminary play, after the Boomers tackled France, Serbia and the USA in their first three contests. Compared with Lithuania, "We were a little bit more rested, so we wanted to make sure we took advantage of that and came out with the right energy," Bogut said.
Mills usually provides the rest opportunity for San Antonio Spurs teammates such as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in the NBA, but he got his own break Sunday and came back appearing fresh.
Health remains the Aussies' biggest concern. They've lost Cameron Bairstow to a shoulder injury, likely keeping him out the rest of the tournament, and Dellavedova is playing with an injured hip. Otherwise, they're playing efficiently and confidently and expect to keep advancing.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Storylines
R Australia advances to the Olympic men's basketball semifinals for the first time since 2000, beating Lithuania 90-64.
• The Jazz's Joe Ingles and University of Utah product Andrew Bogut combine for 16 points and 11 assists.