Australia defeated Finland 98:72 in the first game of Group E that opened the FIBA World Cup.
Chaotic play marked the opening minutes of the meeting, and Finland was slightly more skillful. She handled situations in which Lauri Markkanen was completely closed, and team play led to a surplus. Sasu Salin also played for plus eight in the middle of the second quarter, so that first Patty Mills and then Josh Giddey took responsibility and contributed to Australia establishing control before going to the big break.
Such a turn of events directed the events in the third part of the game. Then Dante Exum joined the Australian tandem, after which the advantage of the “Boomers” went up to plus 16. The Australians did not lower their intensity even in the fourth quarter, but raised the surplus and convincingly beat the opponent.
The most effective for the winners were Mills and Giddey with 25 and 14 points, while the defeated team was led by Markkanen with 19 and Salin with 13 points.
In the second round, Finland will play against Japan, while Australia will compete against Germany. These games will be played on Auguste 27.