Boomers complete comprehensive warm-up win over Puerto Rico ahead of Olympic Games, Dante Exum cleared of serious injury after scare
Nasty head knock to Dante Exum sent a scare through Boomers while Josh Giddey tops the points-scorers in warm-up match victory over Puerto Rico 90-75 ahead of Paris Olympics.
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Dante Exum has been cleared of serious injury after copping an accidental knee to the head during the Boomers’ warm-up win over Puerto Rico.
A team official confirmed to Code Sports that Exum is fine and is expected to play in Australia’s final friendly against host nation France on Monday from 5am (AEST).
The Dallas Mavericks star went down on the quarter time buzzer clutching at his head/neck. He appeared to hit the back of his head on teammate Duop Reath’s knee.
The 29-year-old – who has fought through a litany of injuries to keep his international and NBA career alive – immediately grabbed the back of his head with both hands and writhed in pain for some moments. The Dallas Maverick was seen in the hands of trainers during the quarter-time break and did not take any further part in the game.
Code Sports confirmed Exum underwent a concussion test and was held out of the game as a precaution, suffering from a sore neck.
He has since been cleared of serious injury after copping the accidental knee to the head during the Boomers’ warm-up win.
A team official confirmed to Code Sports that Exum is fine and is expected to play in Australia’s final friendly against host nation France on Monday from 5am (AEST).
Brilliant young orchestrator Josh Giddey continued to put his stamp on the national team program, attacking the basket aggressively for a game-high 19 points to go with a series of predictably delicious passes, five that resulted in assists, and four rebounds.
The new Chicago Bull said the result built more momentum “going into the real thing”.
“This group has been awesome together, we’re building and hopefully when we get to Lille, we can hit the ground running,” Giddey said.
The 21-year-old led five Boomers in double digits, including soon-to-be five-time Olympians Patty Mills (15) and Joe Ingles (11).
The cherished pair enjoyed a classic stretch to close the third quarter when they traded a trio of three-pointers that crushed a mini fightback from the Puerto Ricans. All five of Mills’ buckets came from deep in a sign he’s found the remedy to his early-campaign shooting woes and his mate Ingles joined in with three triples of his own – they combined for eight of the Boomers’ 12 makes from the outside.
Vital big man Jock Landale contributed across the board with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, while Josh Green had 10.
NBA big man Duop Reath, out of the rotation for the Boomers’ past three games, was given an opportunity to back up starting centre Landale and, while it appears tough Tasmania JackJumpers champion Will Magnay has a grip on the role, the Portlan Trailblazer will be bashing down the door.
Newly-minted Houston Rocket Jack McVeigh continued to excel in his bench sniper role with 9 points, while Dyson Daniels emergence continued, the young gun filling the stat sheet with 5 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.
McVeigh reserved special praise for the 21-year-old Atlanta Hawk.
“Dyson being a pest defensively, he’s up the floor, his ability to stay into the ball and use his length to just create havoc out there is impressive to watch,” McVeigh said.
The reigning NBL grand final MVP continues to grow in confidence – attributing that to the quality of the Aussie league.
“It’s felt good out there, the pace isn’t too different and I think it’s a credit to the NBL and what Australian basketball is – everyone on the team is a great player and I’m feeling good being part of it,” he said.
The victory over the rank group C outsiders was expected, but Goorjian was pleased with the workmanlike resilience to establish an early lead and keep the foot on the pedal without a let down from big performances against Team USA and Serbia.
It also gave him an opportunity to reward those deeper in the bench with more playing time.
“We went 12 deep tonight and Joe, Duop and Delly (Matthew Dellavedova) got a lot of minutes and they played well, so that is great for team harmony … before we go into the village,” Goorjian said.
Whether or not you agree with the selections – or the rotations – this 12-man green and gold squad has grown before our eyes every time it has taken the court in the build up to Paris.
That burgeoning belief will face a mighty test on Monday morning (5am AEST) when the Boomers face host nation France and its big boppers Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert in their last warm up before the real stuff starts on July 27 against Spain.
Australia 90-75 Puerto Rico
Giddey 19, Mills 15, Landale 12, Ingles 11, Green 10
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