Australia’s World Cup campaign has been dealt an unforeseen blow with world No. 11 Germany causing an 85-82 upset behind Dennis Schröder’s 30 last night in Okinawa, Japan.
Despite being without star forward Franz Wagner, the Germans scored the opening eight points of the contest before a 13-point Patty Mills outburst wrestled back momentum for the Boomers as they took a one-point lead into the first-quarter break.
A strong second quarter saw Germany take a five-point lead into the intermission before a 22-13 third-quarter run helped the Boomers jump out to a four-point edge heading into the fourth.
Germany started the fourth quarter in a similar manner to the first by putting together a 10-0 run and withstanding several Boomers haymakers to hold on for a valuable lead that likely secures them top spot in Group E.
Mills top-scored for the Australians finishing with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go along with five rebounds and six assists.
Josh Giddey overcame a slow start to finish with 17 points and three assists whilst Xavier Cooks added nine points, five rebounds, and two blocks off the bench.
Schröder proved a handful for the Boomers all night putting up a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting as well as eight assists and four steals.
Maodo Lô provided the Germans with an unlikely spark adding 20 points on 4-of-8 from behind the arc off the bench whilst Johannes Voigtmann had seven points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Australia now shift their focus to a Tuesday night matchup against hosts Japan – who are fresh off a 10-point win over Finland – in a win-or-go-home affair.
