Mills the Hero for Boomers Against Argentina

In a NAIDOC Week that has seen him announced as an Australian flag bearer for the Tokyo Olympics, Patty Mills has capped it off with a remarkable game winner for the Boomers against Argentina in Las Vegas.

The Boomers were playing their first exhibition game at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas ahead of the Olympics starting in Tokyo later this month, and there was plenty to like even before the dramatic finish.

The Australian team was certainly made to work for it against Argentina as well who were led by 41-year-old legendary big man Louis Scola who is preparing for his fifth Olympics campaign.

He put up 25 points in a dazzling performance considering his age and that including a huge three to tie scores up at 84-84.

Both teams then had shot clock violations before the Boomers had one last chance to break the deadlock with 2.5 seconds on the clock, and enter Patty Mills.

He took the in-bounds pass after a Brian Goorjian timeout and got the pass back from Jock Landale, and then thanks to the screen from the Melbourne United Grand Final MVP, he got a good look from three and drained it as time expired and the Boomers won 87-84 in remarkable fashion.

It capped a remarkable week for Mills who was named as a flag bearer for Australia in Tokyo and it has all just happened to take place during NAIDOC Week. He finished the game with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds while draining 4/9 from three-point range.

The form of Mills wasn’t the only thing to like from the performance by the Boomers either.

Philadelphia 76ers NBA player Matisse Thybulle was exciting with the combination of his athleticism, defence and shot making ability. He put up 15 points, four steals, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Utah Jazz veteran Joe Ingles showed his poise and quality with 16 points and three assists while hitting four three-pointers with Aron Baynes putting in a power of work inside with 14 points and eight rebounds even if he struggled on his outside shot.

Dante Exum hasn’t seen much NBA court time in recent times but showed he's still an exciting talent with seven points and three assists while Jock Landale put up six points and five boards.

New Illawarra Hawks NBL signing Duop Reath was impressive in his four minutes with four points and three rebounds while Nick Kay provided good hustle for four points and five boards.

Chris Goulding and Nathan Sobey also scored two points each while new Melbourne United signing Matthew Dellavedova had six rebounds, four assists and two steals in his 23 minutes.

The match started how it would finish with a Patty Mills three ball before the Boomers opened up the first break with a 9-0 capped by a Jock Landale triple to lead Argentina early 13-7.

Despite a brilliant introduction from Matisse Thybulle that saw him block a couple of shots, knock down a three and another jumper, and then finish an alley-oop from Joe Ingles on quarter-time, Argentina led 21-20 after one.

Things remained close for much of the second term with Ingles, Dante Exum and Duop Reath all having purple patches for the Boomers, but Argentina ended the half on fire and a half-court bomb on the buzzer from Luca Vildoza saw them lead 47-42.

Argentina was threatening to breakaway further during the third quarter until Australia finished the period strongly including hitting the last seven points with a three as time expired from Ingles to lead 62-59.

It always seemed fitting it would go down to the wire with both teams beginning their preparations for Tokyo where they rightfully hope to be medal contenders. Luis Scola and Mills traded huge threes which summed up the game in a lot of ways with the Boomers getting home with the walk off Mills triple.

The Boomers next face the USA on Tuesday morning in Las Vegas with the Americans fresh off a loss on Sunday to Nigeria. Australia will then take on Nigeria on Wednesday and the USA again on Saturday morning before departing for Tokyo.

LAS VEGAS BASKETBALL EXHIBITION
TOKYO OLYMPICS WARM UP

AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS 87 (Mills 17, Ingles 16, Thybulle 15)

ARGENTINA 84 (Scola 25, Campazzo 12, Vildoza 11) 

BOX SCORE