AUSTRALIA have beaten the Tao Ming-led China 67-55 in a fiery opening to the Boomers' campaign in the pre-Olympic Diamond Cup in Nanjing.
In a heated match marred by the occasional scuffle and some bruising screens, the Boomers prevailed by 12 points in a preview of what they can expect in Beijing next month.
Yao shaded Australia's Andrew Bogut in the battle of NBA big men, but the visitors showed enough composure down the stretch to get off to the best possible start in the six-nation tournament and disappoint a vocal home crowd.
Yao finished with 14 points and seven boards, while Bogut had nine points and eight rebounds.
Chris Anstey played an important role for the Boomers, finishing with a team-high 11 points, while European-based forward Dave Andersen also impressed in his 10-point haul.
Australia got off to a confident start, skipping out to a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes, with Bogut and CJ Bruton busy early on.
But the home side soon steadied, locking the scores up at 7-7 before gaining their first lead midway through the first term.
Boomers veteran Anstey then weighed into proceedings, hitting back-to-back triples to give Australia back the lead.
Anstey then set a huge screen on China's starting point guard Liu Wei that sent him crashing to the floor.
Guard play is the weak link in the Chinese national team and the fact Liu didn't return heaped more pressure on their back court.
At quarter-time Australia led 20-16 and their advantage was quickly stretched to double figures early in the second period.
The Boomers' defensive pressure restricted China to just 12 points for the quarter and they added 18 to take a 38-28 edge into the main break. Their lead would have been more if not for four consecutive free-throw misses from Bogut.
Australia appeared headed for victory but a late run in the final quarter, which included a questionable unsportsmanlike call on Boomers skipper Matt Nielsen, helped China claw to within six points, 55-49.
But the Australians regained control in a positive sign ahead of the Beijing Games.
AUSTRALIA 67 (Chris Anstey 11 David Andersen 10 Andrew Bogut 9) bt CHINA 55 (Yao Ming 14 Li Nan 11 Wang Shipeng 8) at Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, Nanjing, China
In the evening’s game Iran defeated Serbia 72-70
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