AUSTRALIA fell short in round one of their preparation games series against Team USA, but they made up for it in their second encounter, with prolific guard Patty Mills basking in the spotlight.

Mills dropped 30 points on Team USA as the Boomers prevailed, 98-94, at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on Saturday in front of more than 52,000 fans. It was a terrific bounce-back win for the home team, which lost to the Americans in their first meeting 102-86.

Team USA head coach, who is, ironically, also Mills’s head coach in the NBA, Gregg Popovich couldn’t help but heave praise on Australia’s explosive backcourt scoring machine in a way only he can.

“In a strange sort of way, I’m happy for him,” Popovich said after the loss. “He’s a wonderful human being; much better human being off the court than on the court.”

“It feels awesome,” Mills said after Australia’s first-ever win against Team USA. “I hope we can all build on this.”

Australia won’t face the Americans in the first two rounds of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China, but it’s certainly possible they may face each other again in the quarterfinals or perhaps even beyond.

Australia has been drawn into what many think is the most competitive group in the entire field — Group H — together with Canada, Senegal and Lithuania.

“They call it the “Group of Death,” but our minds are focused on going to the next round and having a very good tournament,” he declared. “Canada has a very good team and a great coach with Nick Nurse, Senegal plays solid basketball and Lithuania has one of the best duos in FIBA basketball, with Jonas Valanciunas and Domas Sabonis. It’s going to be three very intense games in the first round.”

“It’s going to be a great opportunity to try to shine again at the international level, and we want to get a medal and come back home with something,” Mills acknowledged.(FIBA)