The Dream Team of the United States rallied past Australia 89-79 on Thursday to take its second straight win at the Athens Olympics men's basketball tournament.

The United States improved its record to 2-1 in preliminary group B where Australia dropped to 1-2.

Trailing most of the first half and entering the fourth quarter 67-65 down, the United States rallied with a 22-5 run for a 87-72 lead one minute and 49 seconds from the end.

Lebron James and Shawn Marion came from the bench to score six points apiece in the late run, which sealed the victory for the defending Olympic champion, with James capping it with an alley-oop dunk assisted by Stephon Marbury.

"Our bench really helped, especially in the fourth quarter when we had our run," said American head coach Larry Brown at the press conference. "That's a good thing."

Marion finished with 16 points and eight rebounds and James added eight points and five assists.

"I am not used to come from the bench," said James, the youngest of the American team with an age of 19. "But when we represent our country, we have to respect our coach's decision."

"This team is full of NBA stars with much more experience that I have or Carmelo (Anthony) and Duane (Wade) have. So it doesn't matter for me not to be a starter. I can contribute from the bench and I think today we brought some energy in the court and helped our team recover and finally get the victory."

James, who was making his Olympic debut, was boosted by the come-from-behind victory of the sixth edition of the Dream Team of the United States.

"We feel that we are capable of winning the gold medal and that's why we came here," he said. "Our mission is to prove it every night."

Tim Duncan led the United States with 18 points and 11 rebounds, Allen Iverson added 16 points.

The Australians raced to a 31-21 lead after the first quarter on back of six three-pointers.

The United States, who suffered a stunning 92-73 defeat to Puerto Rico before edging past Greece 77-71 in the first two rounds of competition, opened the second quarter with a 8-2 run with Lebron James' alley-oop dunk, assisted by Amare Stoudemire, pulling the Americans within 33-29.

The two sides exchanged runs late in the second quarter and Australia led 51-47 at the half time.

"We didn't play defense in the first half and we let our opponents open space to shoot from outside," James said. "In the second half, we improved tremandously in the defensive part, we dominated in the paint and we had the chance to run in the fast break and score easy baskets."

The Australians buried eight three-pointers in 12 tries in the first half, but slipped to 4-for-14 in the second.

"We shot the ball very well in the first half," said Shane Heal, who led Australia with 17 points. "But in the second we were a little bit tired and couldn't react very well in the defensive pressure of our opponents."