US men's basketball team builds big lead then holds off Australia for 98-92 win in Olympics tuneup

There was a lot for the U.S. Olympic team to like on Monday. And a lot not to like.

Anthony Davis scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton came up with a pair of late 3-pointers that helped stop a freefall by the Americans, and the U.S. beat Australia 98-92 on Monday to improve to 2-0 in its five-game slate of exhibitions leading into the Paris Olympics.

Devin Booker scored 16 for the U.S., Anthony Edwards scored 14 and three players — LeBron James, Bam Adebayo and Joel Embiid — finished with 10 for the Americans, who are playing host to a pair of exhibitions at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, this week. They'll play Serbia there on Wednesday.

Jock Landale scored 20 for Australia, which got 17 from Josh Giddey and 14 from Dyson Daniels.

The U.S. led by 24 midway through the third quarter, yet saw that lead cut to six with 5:05 left after Australia went on a 39-21 run. But Haliburton had the next six points on his 3s, pushing the lead back to 92-80.

Australia cut it to four on two separate occasions, but Booker went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 8 seconds to ensure the U.S. would escape.

“Third quarter, we started turning the ball over," U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. "We gave up a ton of points at the basket. Back cuts, offensive boards and so, the game shifted. It's a good lesson for us. Better to learn that lesson now than later. And this will be a good tape for us to watch. But I give Australia a ton of credit. They were great. They fought. They were really physical. Took it to us in the last quarter and a half and really made it a game.”

Just like in the Canada game, the so-called second unit — Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, Adebayo, Davis and Booker — changed the game.

That was the group on the floor when the Americans took a game that was tied at 19-19 with 3:15 left in the first and turned it into a 39-23 lead — a 20-4 run in a span of just over 5 minutes.

Kerr used that group as his starting five to open the second half. But it’s become a clear trend already: when the U.S. goes to its bench and can replace All-Stars with other All-Stars, it’s just going to be a massive problem for opponents who don’t have anywhere near that same level of depth.

“The strength of our team is our depth and we have to utilize our depth,” Kerr said.

It’s been something the Americans have used to their advantage in the past. Dwyane Wade led the gold-medalist 2008 U.S. Olympic team in points, even though he was sixth in minutes on that team and came off the bench in all eight games.

Here’s the big trouble sign right now for the U.S.: turnovers.

FIBA games are shorter than NBA games, 40 minutes instead of 48 minutes. That means there are fewer possessions and makes it even more imperative to not give the ball away.

Which the Americans did. A lot.

After committing 15 turnovers in last week's exhibition win over Canada, the U.S. had 18 giveaways on Monday and Australia used them to fuel the comeback effort — getting 25 points off turnovers in the second half alone.

“Our turnovers, it's all about focus and execution,” Davis said.

Kevin Durant missed his second consecutive game because of a calf strain, and with only one practice between games it wouldn’t seem likely that he plays Wednesday against Serbia either.

Derrick White, who arrived in Abu Dhabi over the weekend and got into his first practice with the team on Sunday, also didn’t play. White replaced Kawhi Leonard — who deals with knee issues — on the U.S. roster after the Americans determined last week that it wasn’t in Leonard’s best interest to play this summer.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Australia's Dante Exum (14) puts up a shot as USA's Anthony Davis (14) defends during the USA Basketball Showcase in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Australia's Josh Giddey (3) drives with the ball past United States' Stephen Curry (4)during the USA Basketball Showcase in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Inited States' Jayson Tatum, second from front left, drives with the ball past Australia's defense during the USA Basketball Showcase in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

United States head coach Steve Kerr watches during the first half of an exhibition basketball game between the United States and Canada, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

United States forward/center Anthony Davis (14) scores a basket during the first half of an exhibition basketball game against Canada, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady Wednesday after more big companies delivered profit reports that topped analysts’ expectations.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in early trading, a day after breaking an eight-day winning streak, its longest of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 88 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.

Treasury yields were also moving little as investors wait for the week’s main event, which will arrive Friday. That’s when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will give a speech at an annual economic symposium. The hope is he’ll offer clues about how deeply and how quickly the Fed will begin cutting interest rates next month after it jacked them to a two-decade high to beat inflation.

In the meantime, more companies are joining a parade to deliver what looks to be the best growth in profit for S&P 500 companies since late 2021.

Target jumped 15.4% after the retailer said an important underlying measure of sales strength for the spring came in at the high end of its expectations, as traffic increased at both its stores and online. Its profit topped analysts’ estimates, and it raised its forecast for the full year.

TJX, the company behind TJ Maxx and Marshalls, rose 4.5% after it likewise reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. The retailer also raised its profit forecast for the full year and said it saw increased customer transactions at all of its divisions.

They helped offset a 12% drop for Macy’s. The company reported better profit than analysts expected, but its revenue fell short of forecasts. It also lowered its expected range for sales this year, due in part to “a more discriminating consumer.”

Worries have been growing about whether U.S. shoppers can keep up their spending and keep the slowing economyout of a recession. Inflation is slowing, but prices are still much higher than before the pandemic, and many U.S. households have burned through the savings they built up during that stay-at-home period.

Concerns have been particularly high for U.S. households at the lower end of the income spectrum. High interest rates instituted by the Federal Reserve have made it more expensive to borrow money, compounding the difficulty.

That’s why the widespread expectation is for the Fed next month to lower its main interest rate for the first time since the COVID crash of 2020. The only question is how much and how quickly it will move.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury has been sinking since April on such expectations. It slipped further Wednesday, down to 3.79% from 3.81% late Tuesday.

On Wall Street, coal companies Arch Resources and Consol Energy both jumped after they said they were combining in an all-stock “merger of equals.” After merging, they plan to go by a new name, Core Natural Resources. Arch Resources climbed 5.9%, and Consol Energy gained 6%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3%. It was a much more modest move than some of its huge swings in recent weeks, including its worst day since the Black Monday crash of 1987.

Indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia and modestly higher in Europe.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader takes photos of a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)