Bronze medalists Australia capitalized on a strong first quarter to win 92-80 (31-21, 18;21, 20:18, 23: 20) against Spain at the start of the men's basketball tournament at the Olympic Games. The Group A match was held at the "Stade Pierre Moreau" in Lille.
The legend Rudy Fernandez, who became the first basketball player in history to participate in six Olympics, played for the Spanish team, runner-up in Beijing 2008 and London 2012. He also has a bronze from Rio 2016.
On Monday, the American basketball player Diana Taurasi will also record participation in six Olympics, who will also be the all-time record holder among women. The Spanish Juan Carlos Navarro, the Puerto Rican Teofilo Cruz, the Australian Andrew Gaze, the Brazilian Oscar Schmidt and the Argentine Luis Scola were five times at the Olympic Games.
Australia's national team, which came third in Tokyo with a victory over Slovenia in the minor final, secured a big lead at the start of the match. Patty Mills scored three foul shots and Jock Lendale hit a 3-pointer to make it 6-0, and the Aussies ended the half with a ten-point lead.
The lead held for a long time, and the Spaniards closed the gap before the final five minutes of the game with a three-pointer from Santi Aldama. However, the Australians answered with three unanswered baskets by Mills, Lendale and Jack McVeigh, which was enough for the victory.
Australia finished with an impressive 51% shooting success rate, while Spain finished with 39%. Landale scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the winners, and Mills finished with 19 points. Aldama was the game's top scorer with 27 points for the European champions, while Sergio Yu scored 17. Rudy Fernandez missed his only shot.
Later today, world champion Germany will face Japan.