Australian Boomers draw decided for Rio Olympics quarter-finals

AUSTRALIA’S opponent for the Rio Olympics basketball quarter-finals and their path to a potential gold medal game v Team USA has been revealed.

Australian Boomers centre Andrew Bogut.

AUSTRALIA will play old Olympic foe Lithuania in the Rio 2016 basketball quarter-finals, with a gold medal match against Team USA the ultimate aim.

The Boomers have been beaten twice by Lithuania in Olympic bronze medal matches (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000) and must overcome the Eastern European team in their final eight clash at 12am, Thursday (AEST).

The match came after Australia finished second behind USA in Group A, while Lithuania was third in Group B; the comparative standings of both groups ranked the Boomers second overall and Lithuania - beaten soundly by Spain (109-59) and Croatia (90-81) in their last two matches - seventh.

Australia will face the winner of Croatia v Serbia (11.45am AEST) should they prevail in their quarter-final.

Boomers vs Lithuania @ 12am, Thursday

Australia is ahead in all but 3 (one is tied) statistical categories pic.twitter.com/6wFfLAlHGT

— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) August 16, 2016

Team USA has drawn Argentina in the quarters (7.45am AEST), while Spain will play France (3.30am AEST).

The Boomers are still chasing a historic first Olympic gold medal - something Lithuania has twice denied them.

The Aussies - superbly led by NBA veterans such as Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills and Matthew Dellvedova - lost only their clash against Team USA in Group A. It was a tight 98-88 defeat, which America’s NBA megastar line-up has followed with remarkably vulnerable performances against Serbia and France.

The Boomers accounted for France, Serbia, China and Venezuela in group play and are in good shape for sudden death, injury free and with bench players having been given minutes as the big guns rested in the final two matches.

Australia's Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova.

While Lithuania lost to Spain and Croatia, it opened its campaign by beating Brazil 82-76, Nigeria 89-80 and Argentina 81-73.

Lithuania is a three-time bronze medallist at the Olympics. On top of its twin defeats of the Boomers in third-place matches, it also took bronze at Barcelona 1992, beating Unified Team in an extraordinary upset.

Originally published as Australian Boomers draw decided for Rio Olympics quarter-finals