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Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez’s night to forget with Team USA

By Jordan Treske

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 24: Khris Middleton of the USA brings the ball up court defended by Patty Mills of Australia during game two of the International Basketball series between the Australian Boomers and United States of America at Marvel Stadium on August 24, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 24: Khris Middleton of the USA brings the ball up court defended by Patty Mills of Australia during game two of the International Basketball series between the Australian Boomers and United States of America at Marvel Stadium on August 24, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images) /
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Team USA suffered their first defeat in over 13 years and both Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks put in forgettable showings in what was a miserable night all around for the Americans.

All of the concerns surrounding Team USA’s run up to the start of next week’s FIBA World Cup were validated in a memorable night in Melbourne for all of the wrong reasons.

Early Saturday morning saw Team USA’s 78-game win streak crumble as they fell to Australia in a 98-94 loss in the second of their two friendlies at Marvel Stadium.

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From an Australian perspective, this obviously stands as the greatest achievement in their country’s basketball history and the Boomers collectively put in a performance that has been typical of showings that international basketball fans have come to expect from them in competitions.

They were led by an incredible performance from NBA champion and San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, who finished with a game-high 30 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field (4-of-10 from three).

While Mills led the way, especially in the second half, the Boomers’ long-standing chemistry, grittiness and physical advantages all overwhelmed a Team USA squad that has been searching for cohesion throughout their ongoing friendly tour ahead of the FIBA World Cup.

Unfortunately, neither Brook Lopez or Khris Middleton, the two Bucks players vying to represent Team USA, did much to pitch in with Team USA’s overall performance. Starting with Middleton, the All-Star swingman regained his spot in the starting five and drained his first shot attempt, a mid-ranger off the dribble, to keep up the Americans’ hot shooting start.

However, his outing quickly turned south as he struggled to hit from long distance and probe the paint, and tallied what was a lazy turnover that led to an easy trip to the free throw line for Australian international and Utah Jazz swingman Joe Ingles.

Eventually, foul trouble fully derailed Middleton’s playing time throughout the second half and his night overall and the 28-year-old posted four points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field (0-of-3 from three), two rebounds, one steal, one turnover and was a +12 in just over 13 minutes of run.

Switching over to Lopez, the seven-footer was, once again, stuck behind starter Myles Turner and Mason Plumlee in Team USA’s center rotation under head coach Gregg Popovich. The 31-year-old’s only run of the night came during the first four-plus minutes of the second period and he didn’t feature much at all for Team USA, who struggled to withstand the trapping and overall defensive pressure the Boomers threw heavily at the Americans’ way.

Even during that small span of time, Lopez couldn’t get his only look from the field, a driving runner in the paint, to go down and managed to pick up two fouls trying to defend the hoop.

Now the unthinkable has happened for a Team USA squad that, even with all of the star names and players that have dropped out over the course of the selection process, has still been viewed as the favorites for this edition of the World Cup. But seeing such a performance and the result that occurred in Melbourne will lead many to soften their stance in that regard and look toward the crowded pack of underdogs that will surely test Team USA once everything gets underway in China.

For now, both Lopez and Middleton are simply still looking to make the final roster with that lone cut looming over Team USA’s tour down under. Now, the tour will wrap up in Sydney when they go against Canada early Monday morning.

Next. Bucks: Robin Lopez solidifies the team’s defensive pedigree. dark

But it’s quite clear that even beyond both Bucks stars making the final roster that they, along with the rest of the players representing Team USA, will have to sharpen their performance to reverse the growing skepticism in regard to their chances to go for gold in China.

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