Mills dream shots lifts Aussies in Olympics basketball

Patrick Mills sank the winning 3-pointer at the final buzzer to give Australia a dramatic 82-80 victory over previously unbeaten Russia on Monday at the Olympic men's basketball tournament. Mills, a guard for the NBA San Antonio Spurs, took a pass from Joe Ingles and launched the deciding shot from just beyond the arc at the top of the key, watching as it fell through the hoop as time expired. "I was open and I had the mindset if I was open I would shoot it," Mills said. "It felt really good. It's one of those shots you dream of making at the Olympic Games and to do it against a good team like Russia is great." While the victory was a major confidence booster for the Boomers, the result did not change the medal playoff picture for either team. The Russians finished 4-1, leaving the United States as the only unbeaten team in the event, but will still have a top seed in Wednesday's quarter-finals. "We will move forward with a great fire to achieve our goal," Russian coach David Blatt said."We have to use this as a positive because there were some lessons to be learned. We have to have the defensive focus we've displayed most of the tournament." The Aussies are a fourth seed at 3-2 and could face the US NBA stars in the quarter-finals. "For us to get through that game is a true reward for the work our guys have put in and the attitude they have shown since starting the tournament 0-2," Aussie coach Brett Brown said. "Any time you make a big shot at the end to win the game, it adds to the team's belief and individual's belief. The belief grows. We need every bit of that swagger and growth." With Australia clinging to a 79-78 lead, Mills missed a 3-pointer for the Boomers and Victor Khryapa grabbed the rebound for Russia, setting up a drive to the basket on which Vitaliy Fridzon was fouled by Aussie Matt Nielsen. Fridzon sank both free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining and the Russians took an 80-79 lead, only to set up the last-shot heroics by Mills. "He drilled a great shot on a great play to win the game," Blatt said. "I wouldn't want to play Australia." The Russians were hurt because there was nothing at stake as far as the playoff chase was concerned, Blatt said, especially unhappy at allowing 14 Australian offenisve rebounds. "This game will be forgotten when it comes to the next game," Fridzon said. "The next game is what's really important." Ingles led Australia with 20 points while Mills and David Andersen each added 13 points. "It's a good way to finish," Ingles said. "We're getting better and better each game." "Russia was unbeaten so we feel like we're really putting ourselves in the mix," added Boomers' captain Matt Nielsen. Sasha Kaun led Russia with 18 points while Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved each added 13 and all three grabbed six rebounds. "We lost at the last second, which is always hard, but the result wasn't as important as the way some guys played," Kaun said. "We had a really sluggish start but got better towards the end. Hopefully we'll take that on to the quarter-finals."