The three-time Olympic champion and two-time world champion were beaten for the first time in their history by the Australian team (98-94).

The indestructible "Team USA" basketball suffered a historic defeat on Saturday against Australia in Melbourne (98-94) in preparation for the World Cup (August 31-September 15), the first in 13 years with a workforce from the NBA.

A first for Australians

The three-time Olympic champion and two-time world champions were beaten for the first time in their history by the Australian team, just one week before the start of the World Cup. The Australians, who lost 102-86 two days earlier against the same team, owe a lot to their star Patty Mills (30 points) and their two veterans Andrew Bogut (16 points, 9 rebounds) and Joe Ingles (15 and 7), 34 and 31 years respectively, in the construction of this success achieved in front of more than 52,000 spectators, a record for this sport in Australia.

FINAL: Australia 98, USA 94 @ KembaWalker finished with 22 pts & @hbarnes added 20 pts #BoomersUSApic.twitter.com / eMmzXX2sgw

- USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 24, 2019

"The support has been incredible, we are very proud to represent these fans and in a great way, it is a stage of construction for us, we are just taking walk after step, it's just nice to see our progress," he said. Mills, the leader of the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. Despite the 22 points of former Charlotte star Kemba Walker now spent with the Boston Celtics, the team led by Spurs legendary coach Gregg Popovich had to bow.

A team without the majority of stars

This is the first defeat since 2006 and the half of the World Cup lost to Greece for the US selection in its version exclusively made up of NBA players (she had played her qualifying campaign at the World Cup with G-League players, the secondary league).

For the defense of his title, in China from August 31, the "Team USA" is certainly scary, but much less than she could have hoped. Indeed, the vast majority of stars in the NBA have renounced to participate in the World Cup, focusing on the preparation of the upcoming season. In total, only two "All-Stars" 2019 (best NBA players), Kemba Walker and Khris Middleton, are in the lineup.