Coming into Saturday’s game between Australia and Great Britain, only five players had scored 30 points or more in this years Olympics, and this years highest scoring performance was Carmelo Anthony’s 37-point game against Nigeria.
Anthony no longer holds that mark as San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills and Australia routed Great Britain Saturday 106-75 in a game where they were down 15-points in the second half, but Mills exploded for 39 points to hold the highest scoring mark this year in the Olympics.
Here’s his stat line from his unbelievable performance: 39 points, 14/22 shooting, 5-of-7 from three, five rebounds, two assists, one steal. Let’s get to the rundown of Mills’ incredible performance.
First quarter: Australia (AUS) 18, Great Britain (GB) 25
Player of the quarter (AUS): Mills – Mills and the Aussies got off to a slow start, but then midway through the first quarter Mills heated up. He went through a timeframe of scoring 12 points in a row for the Aussies, by hitting inside jumpers, connecting on two 3-pointers and even pick-pocketing a British big man for an open lay-up.
Player of the quarter (GB): Luol Deng, Dan Clark – Clark (14 points) made three 3-pointers to stretch the British lead to nine points in the first quarter. Deng (9 points) used his All-Star presence to become a decoy and allow his other teammates to produce offensively.
Second quarter: AUS 36, GB 46
Player of the quarter (AUS): Aron Baynes – Though Australia really struggled to score in the second quarter, their big man Baynes was one bright spot as he had 10 points going into halftime, all his points were from dunks or shots under the rim.
Player of the quarter (GB): British defense, Joel Freeland – The British defense clamped down on the Australians in the second quarter by holding the Aussies to just 11 points in the quarter. The British also had five steals by halftime.
Portland Trailblazer to-be Freeland (16 points) had 11 points at halftime to lead the British in scoring.
Spurs spotlight: Along with his teammates struggling, Mills only connected on one free throw line jumper in the second quarter to go into halftime leading the Boomers with 14 points.
Third quarter: AUS 66, GB 60
Player of the quarter (AUS): Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Australian defense – The third quarter started to look like a blowout in favor of the British as they stretched their lead to 15 points early. Mills, Dellavedova, and the Boomers defense made a tremendous comeback as they first began with a 17-2 run to tie the game at 53. Dellavedova connected on three 3-pointers in the quarter for all of his nine points, while Mills scored all sorts of ways. He scored from the outside, hit jumpers off screens, made numerous free throws, and even finished with layups. Mills had 29 points by the end of three quarters, 15 points alone in the third.
The Australian defense was also huge in the third as they held Great Britain to just 14 points in the quarter, as the British only made five out of 22 baskets.
Fourth quarter: AUS 106, GB 75
Player of the quarter (AUS): Mills, team scorching from the outside – Mills put up 10 more points, mainly from 3-point range, in the fourth quarter. Once the Australian’s had a huge lead, Mills was called to the bench with 4:10 left in the game.
The Australian’s were scorching from the outside as they made 3-pointer after 3-pointer even after Mills went to the bench. They ended up scoring 40 points in the fourth quarter alone.
With the win, the Australian’s secured the fourth seed in Group B’s pool. They still have to play Russia on Monday, but they’re secured an invitation into the next round next week with their comeback blowout of Great Britain.
