The Boomers lost, 88 to 98, in a game that went down to the wire. 

Maryborough’s Matthew Dellavedova’s high energy defence was pivotal in containing the Dream Team’s superstar shooters.

Read on for the match report by Fairfax Media’s Michael Chammas.

WATCH: Boomers can’t beat us, says USA ahead of the game

"They feel like they can beat us but we feel they can't."

Well, Mr Durant, it appears as though you were right - but not without one almighty scare from a Boomers team hellbent on causing the upset of the Olympics.

Not even Australia's greatest hope for a men's Olympic basketball medal - a team sprinkled with NBA talent - was enough for the US team to take them seriously.

Not Kevin Durant, not Carmelo Anthony.

And when your worst player is better than the opposition's best, you probably have every right not to fear anyone just as Anthony admitted he didn't fear Matthew Dellavedova.

"I'm not worried about it, I'm not worried about it at all," the New York Knicks star said about the Boomers' best player of the Olympic campaign.

But worried they were. In an uncharacteristically poor showing which reeked of complacency, the US trailed Australia by two in the last quarter before coming home strongly to clinch a 98-88 victory in an equally uncharacteristic packed house in Rio de Janeiro.

Australia were still in the hunt heading into home stretch against a team that had previously lost just five of 137 matches across 18 Olympic Games.

But the depth of the US shone through, denying a gallant Australian team of what would have been the country's most memorable victory in the sport.

​In the strongest gauge of just how good this Boomers team is, they caused plenty of headaches to a second-string US team missing superstars LeBron James, Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, James Harden and Blake Griffin.

The general consensus in the men's draw is that if you're not representing the US, you're fighting to avoid them as long as possible so that you can walk away with a silver medal having lost to the star-studded side in the gold medal match.

That was meant to be as good as it would get for Australia, but somehow - after an incredible showing on Wednesday night - there's a belief among the group that the impossible might just be possible.

An off night nonetheless, but the arrogance they so rightly came into the match with might not be there the next time these two teams square off in Rio.

Patty Mills top scored for Australia with 31 points, but Dellavedova's double-double (11 points, 11 assists) was equally important as he took centre stage for the second game in a row.

Anthony was the star  for the US, landing 31 points on a night his team shot just 39 per cent.

It was a match with no shortage of links between the two teams.

The Milwaukee-bound Dellavedova up against championship-winning Cleveland teammate Kyrie Irving.

Andrew Bogut, squeezed out of Golden State to accommodate Durant's arrival just over a month ago, taking on Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes, whom he won a championship with at Golden State.

Then there was Australia's Brock Motum, who roomed with Thompson during their college playing days at Washington State.

Most teams are happy just being on the court with such company, but Bogut made it clear the Aussies weren't here to "get their shoes signed" by a team that decided to spend the Olympic campaign on a luxury cruise ship docked outside of Rio de Janeiro - such is their superstar status.

Next time, the US might play the first quarter like they did the last - with a realisation that they can, albeit highly unlikely, be beaten.