The Boomers are on track to win Australia’s first Olympic men’s basketball medal after pushing the star-studded United States team all the way in an exciting – if occasionally spiteful – clash in Brazil on Thursday morning (AEST).

The Americans eventually won the match 98-88 but were less than gracious in victory, accusing the Boomers of playing “dirty”.

“The game kind of got out of hand early with the physical play,” said American star Paul George, adding: “We knew that coming in – this team has a knack for being a little dirty.”

The comments are likely to be used as motivation by the Australians if they come up against the US in a gold medal playoff, the only way they can meet again in this tournament.

Observers would say the Australians simply gave as good as they got in a very physical encounter replete with bumping, scragging and even, occasionally, elbowing.

The Boomers led 54-49 at half time, only for the gold medal favourites to flex their muscles after the break at the Carioca Arena.

But at times the so-called “Dream Team” looked flummoxed by the Australians’ competitiveness.

That was probably because they’d started the match on a 19-game Olympics winning streak, dating back to Athens 2004, and expected to keep it going easily. Not least because they’d beaten the Boomers in all seven encounters dating back to 1964.

But Patty Mills was brilliant for Australia, scoring 30 points, while Matthew Dellavedova (11 points, 11 assists, six rebounds) also impressed. The pair looked like carrying Australia to victory.

The best player on court had other ideas, though, with the US’s Carmelo Anthony hitting nine-of-15 three-point attempts in a superb display of shooting.

Anthony had eight rebounds to go with his 31 points, as stars Kevin Durant (14 points) and Klay Thompson (six points) were more subdued.

The American star’s shooting — particularly when it mattered — was the difference between the two sides, leaving Andrew Bogut, who scored 15 points for Australia, dejected.

“We are disappointed,” Bogut told the Seven Network.

“We had every opportunity to push the game. We lost the game. There is no small victories. We have things to work on. We will do that.

“We cannot sugarcoat it. We believed we could compete and we are disappointed with the result.

“It was a decent performance but we can clean things up.”

The Boomers might have also pondered at least one large ‘What If…’: one of the key playmakers in the US’s second half resurgence was Kyrie Irving, who could easily have been playing for Australia.

Melbourne-born Irving admitted just last week that he came very close to committing to the Australian team at the London Olympics but held off given he’s lived in the US with his American-born dad since the age of two.

“I was very serious, man,” Irving told reporters last week when asked how close he was to joining the Boomers in 2012.

Despite the Rio loss, Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze said the performance was one of the side’s best ever.

“This has just been one of the all-time great performances by the Boomers,” Gaze said on Seven.

“There’s no other way to describe it.

“They took it right the way up to one of the greatest teams in the world and showed they could match it with the very best.”

Australia, who lost bronze-medal matches at the 1988, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, were quickly on the back foot as Anthony set the tone for his night of dominance with a pair of triples.

Joe Ingles sunk five quick points, though, and Mills nudged the Boomers ahead with a three-point shot of his own.

A 7-0 run then gave Australia a 25-17 lead but the US rallied to level scores at 29-29 at the first change.

The Boomers, led by the excellent Mills, weren’t to be denied and another scoring run — this time 10-0 — helped them to a 46-39 lead against a shell-shocked Dream Team.

And although the US fought back, Australia still led by five points at the main break.

A more emphatic response from the United States was expected in the second half and it duly came, with tight defence restricting the Boomers to just 13 third-quarter points.

The US scored the first nine points of that quarter, with Durant – who was very quiet by his usual standards – finally lifting.

As a result, the US led 70-67 at the final break, but Australia simply refused to go away and reclaimed the lead thanks to an Ingles’ lay-up with nine minutes to play.

Anthony found his range from the three-point arc again, though, and despite Australia’s brave attempts, the US finally kicked clear to eventually record a 10-point victory that flattered them somewhat.

Australia have pool matches against Venezuela and China to come before the tournament enters the knock-out stages.