Olympics 2021: Patty Mills, Matisse Thybulle star as Boomers warm up for Tokyo with win over Argentina

As he so often does, Patty Mills delivered the three-point goods to lead the Boomers to an Olympic warm-up win over Argentina as a teammate of the absent Ben Simmons shone on the big stage.

Matthew Dellavedova deals with some close Argentine attention.

For five years, the Boomers have been searching for the missing piece in their quest for an elusive Olympic medal.

They thought they had it in Ben Simmons, before he knocked back a Tokyo ticket.

But they only had to look as far as his Philadelphia 76ers teammate Matisse Thybulle, who on Sunday established himself as the key to the Boomers’ medal hopes.

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Matisse Thybulle showed his class in the win over Argentina.

The US-born, Sydney-raised defensive powerhouse could not have been more impressive in making his Boomers debut in Las Vegas – leaving his fingerprints all over the 87-84 victory over world No.4 Argentina in a performance that had coach Brian Goorjian beaming.

Captain Patty Mills nailed the match-winning three as time expired, but it was Thybulle who caught the eye with a superb all-round showing that included a perfect three-from-three from beyond the arc, a handful of thunderous fast-break dunks as well as his trademark lockdown defence.

And while the Boomers, who looked out of sync offensively for decent chunks of the gutsy win, might have longed for the playmaking ability of three-time All Star Simmons, they’ve found a genuine star in his 76ers teammate.

“Look at the performance of this team at the last Olympics, the last Worlds, and there’s a piece the team didn’t have,” Goorjian said.

“Defensively, the switching that he did in the third quarter, shot-blocking, getting out on the break and hitting those corner threes.

“You can just see he’s comfortable out there. He’s a piece that just hasn’t been there and is a huge addition for us.

Patty Mills provided the inspiration yet again.

“He’s never played with these guys before. The exciting part I keep repeating with him and Dante (Exum) is it’s been three days together and with a new staff.”

Thybulle finished with 15 points, behind Mills’ 17 and the 16 poured in by Joe Ingles, to go with four steals and three blocks.

Australia trailed at the half, and looked ragged as Argentina opened up an 11-point lead midway through the third quarter before Thybulle triggered an 18-4 run to give Australia a three-point lead at the final break.

In a game of sweeping momentum swings, an 11-0 fourth quarter run from Argentina threatened to kill Australia’s night before Mills’ thrilling buzzer beater.

Dante Exum, playing his first game since suffering a nasty calf injury in January which cruelled his NBA season with Cleveland, also showed some flashes of brilliance and made it to the basket with ease.

Tempering the win, however, was a sobering result three hours earlier on the same court – where the Boomers’ Olympic Group B rivals Nigeria pulled off one of the biggest upsets in international basketball history, stunning the star-studded Team USA 90-87.

Matthew Dellavedova deals with some close Argentine attention.

Against a USA team boasting the talents of Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Damien Lillard and Zach LaVine, Nigeria established themselves as Olympic dark horses with a staggering performance led by Miami Heat point guard Gabe Vincent’s 21 points.

The Boomers will get another stern test on Tuesday (10am EST) when they face Team USA, before taking on Nigeria on Wednesday and closing their Tokyo warm-up matches with a second game against the Americans.

The Olympic basketball tournament gets underway on Sunday, July 25.

Originally published as Olympics 2021: Patty Mills, Matisse Thybulle star as Boomers warm up for Tokyo with win over Argentina