World News Exum cleared of injury as Boomers’ tilt gains pace Blog

Dante Exum has been diagnosed with an injury after leaving the Boomers' Olympic warm-up game against Puerto Rico early.

The Dallas Mavericks NBA guard gave the Australian camp a fright when he fell heavily and was helped off the court during the Boomers' 90-75 win in Orleans, south of Paris, on Saturday morning (AEST).

Fears that he may have suffered a neck injury or concussion have been allayed, with team officials telling AAP that his absence from the rest of the game was purely a precautionary measure.

Tokyo bronze medalist Exum is emerging as a key player for a newly formed Boomers team led by 21-year-old guard Josh Giddey when their season begins on July 27 against Spain.

Giddey (19 points, five assists, four rebounds) continued to be in top form against a top-class Puerto Rico team led by New Orleans guard Jose Alvarado, who missed all five field attempts and did not score a point in 24 minutes of play.

Puerto Rico was no slouch, defeating Italy, Lithuania and Mexico to win its Olympic qualifying tournament on home soil this month.

Patty Mills (15 points, four rebounds, three assists) showed great defensive ability and was 29 points ahead of Australia in the 21 minutes he was on the court.

Australian coach Brian Goorjian was pleased to be able to give playing time to experienced swingman Joe Ingles (11 points on four of four shooting), guard Matthew Dellavedova and center Duop Reath after the trio were used sparingly in games against the USA and Serbia.

Australia will face France in their final pre-Olympic clash in Orleans on Monday morning (AEST) before their first group match against world number two Spain in Lille.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Australia lost to Spain by one point in the bronze medal match, and at the 2019 World Championships in China, Australia lost in double overtime.

The Boomers face a daunting task to advance from their group, as they will also face NBA-strength Canada and a Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Greece, which qualified for the next round for the first time since 2008.

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