Patty Mills heroics fall short as Boomers give up 24-point lead in crushing overtime loss to Serbia

PARIS: The Boomers blew a 24-point second quarter lead to bow out of the Olympic Games in a devastating overtime 95-90 loss in their quarter-final against Serbia.

The script was written for one last heroic performance in the green and gold from Patty Mills and he delivered, drilling an off-balance jump shot from the elbow with 1.9 seconds remaining to level the game at 82-apiece and send it into overtime. But a sloppy final two minutes of overtime crushed the Boomers' dreams of a likely semi-final date with Team USA, giving up a 90-87 lead to crash out of the Paris Games.

In the end, the difference was three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic who was disruptive in defence when the game was on the line in overtime, stripping the ball from Mills as the Aussie star attempted to exploit an open floor in the fast break. Jokic also tipped a Mills layup off the front of the rim, finished a layup of his own and drilled a difficult turnaround jump shot as Serbia snatched the quarter-final.

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While the Denver Nuggets superstar was making big plays, the Boomers lost their nerve after hitting the front - a Jack McVeigh miss from just outside the paint that would have brought the deficit back to one with 48 seconds to play the final nail in the coffin.

Mills, who is 35 and may have played his final game for the Boomers, was disappointed to let the opportunity slip but ultimately "proud" they pushed the second-best team in the world so hard.

"Well, the Olympic Games, this is where it brings the best out of people, teams, countries. This is why you play, for these moments," the team captain told Nine after the game.

"We threw everything at them and it just wasn't our day. Our full credit to Serbia. They're one hell of a team. Great individuals on there, great competitors. Their toughness, they played a hell of a game and they grinded it out and got over the hump in the end.

"But our guys, man, we've had a blast. This journey's been fun. We've stuck together. We've stayed connected as a group. We talked about stacking days and getting better as a group to move forward. But this is the Olympic Games. This is the moments you want to be in. And, it was fun."

Mills was an inspiration with 26 points to lift the Boomers to their best performance of the Paris Games after a difficult tournament in which plenty of criticism has been directed at the veteran core.

The star of a golden generation, Mills was the player most responsible for lifting the Boomers to a first-ever Olympic Games medal in Tokyo but three years on, he was inconsistent before finally getting hot in his side's biggest game of the tournament.

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At one stage late in the first quarter and early in the second Mills was unstoppable, hitting with every shot he tried from three-pointers to off-balance jump shots and scoop layups. He scored 20 first-half points and it appeared that a scoring blitz led by Mills and Josh Giddey, who had 13 first-half points of his own, would open up such a wide margin that it would be impossible for even Jokic to lead a comeback.

But the tide started to turn early in the third quarter and by the final break Australia's 24-point lead had evaporated and they trailed 67-65.

The Boomers didn't hit the front again until overtime but they were unable to ride the momentum with both Mills and Giddey guilty of multiple turnovers when the game was there for the taking.

Giddey, who injured his ankle on one of the final plays of the game, was in tears on the court after full-time.

Speaking to media, including Wide World of Sports, after the game, Boomers coach Brian Goorjian described the result as "heartbreaking".

"What we talked about was playing the game in a certain manner to make Australia proud," Goorjian said.

"And I thought, you know, it has been patchy and we had a patch where we played as good a basketball as my time in the Olympics.

"This is the fourth (Olympics) that we've played (as a core group) and in the first 16 minutes of that first half, that was some of the best basketball we've played.

"That's the second best team in the world (Serbia) with great players, they're going to make a run at you ... They got up by four, we stayed in the battle, we got the ball in the right players' hands...

"I just thought when it came to the crunch, when it came to crunch time, turnovers were our issue in the whole tournament."

Goorjian was generous in his praise for Mills, describing him as "one of the best" players he's ever been involved with. And although it's widely been speculated that Mills, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova would pass the baton after Paris, the coach refused to rule out the possibility that Mills will keep playing for his country.

"We don't have another player in that group that does what he does," Goorjian said. "We have four or five guys that defend, can pick up the floor, that are athletic, that are long - Dyson Daniels, Josh Green Dante Exum.

"We don't have a guy that can create shots and get shots up under pressure, that can score in the half court and that's what these things (elimination games) get to.

"So the other thing about him when I came into camp, he's in incredible shape. You see guys that are 35 years old playing in this that can't still go - he can still go. He hasn't lost a step.

"So I'd be speaking out of turn to say he's done - that's up to his decision.

"But he's one of the best I've ever been around and the success of the Boomers to this stage, a lot goes to him."