‘They wanted it more than us’: Australia hands USA basketball team 1st defeat in 13 years

For the first time in 13 years, a USA team stocked with players from the NBA has been defeated, as Australia pulled off a nail-biting 98-94 win in Melbourne, snapping the USA’s 78-game winning streak dating back to 2006.

The San Antonio Spurs’ Patty Mills scored an impressive 30 points to help Australia to their first ever win against the United States as they overcame a second half deficit to secure the greatest win in Aussie basketball history.

Andrew Bogut and Joe Ingles also impressed in front of more than 50,000 fans, the highest attendance ever for a basketball game in Australia.

Kemba Walker of the Boston Celtics threatened to steal the game for Gregg Popovich's USA side, ranked number one in the world, but the team filled with some of the sport's biggest names couldn't overcome the challenge presented by the dogged Australian team, sending a clear warning to the United States ahead of the World Cup in China on August 31. 

"The support has been amazing. We’re very proud to represent these fans and in the right way. We’re doing it as a team, as a group," Mills said after an exceptional fourth quarter performance. 

"This is a building block for us, we are just taking it step-by-step. It’s just nice to see our progress."

The USA's Kemba Walker offered his own summation: "They wanted it more than us tonight. Lesson learned."

The USA comfortably defeated Australia in the first warm-up meeting between the two sides on Thursday by a score of 102-86, and eased past the world's second-ranked team, Spain, in California earlier in August.

However, this loss – particularly on the eve of the World Cup – will lead to questions regarding the decisions of NBA stars like LeBron James, James Harden, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi Leonard to not take part in the World Cup.

"We need to congratulate the Boomers, they were really great tonight," Popovich said after the game. "We looked discombobulated at times, made some poor decisions.

"Some of it is expected with a new group, trying to learn new systems so it’s not surprising. But the Aussies gave us a great lesson in far as where you want to be and how you want to play in this type of competition. We’re getting used to that and hopefully learning."

The USA has one warm-up left before the World Cup, and will look to return to its winning ways against Canada on Monday.