RIO DE JANEIRO — The United States men’s basketball team has been in Brazil for a week now, living on a luxury boat docked on a pier next to this spacious city and enjoying their time as they breezed through the first two games.
Some players even went to the swimming venue to watch Michael Phelps grab a pair of gold medals on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Team USA found out there will be resistance in its quest for gold. The Americans faced a veteran and NBA-laden Australian team, several players so familiar with the US roster they were hardly daunted by its talent and athleticism.
The United States didn’t scare Australia. It had to play through a plethora of mistakes, cold shooting, lackadaisical play, and poor defense to eke out a 98-88 win at Carioca Arena in Group A pool play.
The United States extended its international winning streak to 71 games, its last loss 12 years ago at the Athens Olympics. The US is expected to dominate the tournament, especially with challengers such as Spain, Argentina, and France running out the same, aging players they have had in previous Olympics.
Team USA has 10 new Olympic players and perhaps they weren’t prepared for such a challenge from an Australian team that played with precision, especially from San Antonio Spur Patty Mills and new Dallas Maverick Andrew Bogut, who punished the US with his passing.
In the end, the United States depended (perhaps too heavily) on four-time Olympic veteran Carmelo Anthony, who has been maligned the past several years for his inability to turn the New York Knicks into a contender. Anthony dazzled with 31 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the 3-point line and became the US Olympic all-time leading scorer.
In these types of games, Team USA has learned — almost the hard way – that experience does matter. And the team’s talent allows Anthony to simply score against one-on-one coverage. He is allowed to freely roam the 3-point line and spot up for open shots.
“In this situation it doesn’t call for me to put the team on my back where I have to create something every play and the ball is in my hands every play,’’ said Anthony, who has 293 career Olympic points in 26 games. “I can space out, take my time, hit my spots, play off the other guys that I have on my team. The NBA is a much different game as far as a lot is required from myself and other guys on the team. You have the ball in your hands more. They rely on you to do much more scoring, much more playmaking.
“On this team, we have the best players in the world, so that’s what makes it fun for myself.’’
It’s difficult to throw a bunch of newcomers out there and expect to cruise. And previous NBA performance does not translate in international play, just ask Klay Thompson, the All-Star and former NBA champion who has looked lost in his first international exposure.
Through three games, Thompson is 3-for-20 shooting, 2 for 13 from the 3-point line and has scored 8 total points, and two of the US’s opponents have been China and Venezuela.
The only criticism of Team USA is its lack of experience, and some players, who made multiple All-Star Games, look befuddled on the international stage. DeMarcus Cousins has 14 fouls in the three games. Kyle Lowry, an offensive dynamo, has attempted 11 shots in the three games.
“You learn by experience,’’ US coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We’re still learning about [the international game]. I’m proud of what they’ve done, but can we play better? We’ll need to.’’
DeMar DeRozan played three minutes Wednesday and Harrison Barnes didn’t play at all. It seems Krzyzewski is learning more about the strengths and weaknesses of his team, and Wednesday he shortened the rotation, allowing his team to counter Australia’s girth with outside shooting. He let them play through mistakes.
The quartet of Kevin Durant, Lowry, Thompson and Paul George went 10 for 37 from the field. Anthony converted 11 field goals by himself.
“For us a group, that’s the first real, real international game we’ve had,’’ Krzyzewski said. “The first two games we played, we were significantly better than those teams. This is the real world now.
“That was good for us. We earned the win and we’re going to have to earn our wins throughout. So this was a really good night for us.’’
The win wasn’t picturesque. Many Americans could have flipped on their televisions to see the United States trailing by 5 at halftime.
The United States is not supposed to trail at the half, ever. And tensions weren’t eased until the final two minutes of the game, when Anthony and Irving provided a flurry of buckets to secure the victory.
Team USA got away with one Wednesday. The Americans were supposed to be dominant and perhaps face a challenge in the medal rounds, but it occurred much earlier.
So the players might have to slice time relaxing on the boat, touring the city or hobnobbing with other athletes and concentrate on the real goal of gold, because it won’t be easy.
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.
