Devin Booker urges Team USA to clean things up quickly before the Olympics tournament starts: "We will not win a gold medal"

The U.S. men's national basketball team is neck-deep in preparation for the 2024 Olympics, and it has less than two weeks before the tournament starts. It recently played a tuneup game against Australia, and while the squad finished with the victory, it still has a lot of questions to answer because of how it won.

Team USA had to fend off a furious rally in the fourth quarter from the opponent to escape with a 98-92 win. Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker believes they have to have a sense of urgency if they want to take home the gold medal in the Paris Games.

"We understand time is not on our side," said Booker. "We have to clean things up quickly, and playing like we did in the second half today … we will not win a gold medal."

A strong showing from the Boomers

To be fair to the Americans, they faced off against a formidable squad that featured several NBA players, including Jock Landale, Josh Giddey, and Dyson Daniels.

Team USA also looked like it was on its way to a comfortable victory, leading by as many points as 24 points in the third quarter. But the Australians employed their signature physicality to claw back into the contest. They managed to narrow the margin to 94-90 with eight seconds left in the game clock but unfortunately ran out of time.

Booker, who started for the U.S. in its previous matchup against Canada, played off the bench against the Aussies and recorded 16 points, including four clutch free throws. Fellow reserve Anthony Davis also had a gutsy performance, putting up 17 points and 14 rebounds.

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Team USA's struggles

As talented as the squad evidently is, its chemistry still has a lot of room for improvement. For instance, it turned the ball over 18 times against Australia after registering 15 turnovers versus Canada five days earlier. In addition, it allowed the Boomers to haul in 13 offensive boards, resulting in 11 fewer field-goal attempts for the reigning Olympic gold medalist.

Anthony Edwards, whose " I'm still the No. 1 option " quip earlier this month has started to prove prophetic, admonished his fellow starters for falling into the trap once the team had a sizable lead.

"We can't get comfortable," the Minnesota Timberwolves star stated . "I think the third quarter, we came out and got super comfortable, took our foot off the gas, wasn't sharing the ball as much. I think the second group shared the ball a lot more than the first group. We got to do a better job of getting each other involved, like the second group."

Team USA still has time to regroup and find ways to come together. It has no other choice. Otherwise, it risks failing to secure a first-place finish in the tournament for the first time since 2004.

Related: Colin Cowherd says 2024 USA squad is better than the 1992 Dream Team: "This team's bench has starters on that team"