Murray Wenzel, AAP
Dante Exum has been cleared to feature in the Boomers’ Olympic campaign after scans on his injured finger revealed a compound dislocation, but no fracture.
The guard’s injury scare was a concerning subplot to another stirring Boomers win, with Australia edging Games hosts France 83-82 on Sunday night (Monday AEST) to complete a confidence-boosting Olympics lead-up.
Dyson Daniels made a tough lay-up from Josh Giddey’s inbound pass with less than two seconds on the clock to win the game in Orleans, south of Paris.
It followed impressive defeats of Puerto Rico and Serbia, as well as a six-point loss to a full-strength United States, since Brian Goorjian settled on his final 12.
But there were serious concerns for Exum, who left the game in the second quarter with a finger injury.
Those were allayed by Australian chef de mission Anna Meares on Monday, with the former track cycling champion confident the 29-year-old will feature.
“Any time one of your key pieces goes down there’s some degree of concern,” teammate Jock Landale said.
“They’ve cleared him for play and Dante’s a pretty tough individual … he’s definitely a key piece of the puzzle for us.”
Coach Brian Goorjian said their build-up to Saturday’s Olympics opener against world No.2 Spain had been about drilling into the squad, namely new pieces Giddey and Daniels, how they wanted to win.
“We’re not going to tolerate the non-toughness,” Goorjian said.
“The selections were about that; making sure there’s no back-off and we play hard every possession.
“We’re not perfect but I just know what the other teams think after they shake hands and get on the bus: ‘those guys play hard and play together’.”
French star Victor Wembanyama almost stole the win but his hurried three-point attempt in the final second bounced off the rim.
The 20-year-old, fresh off a terrific rookie NBA season with San Antonio, finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, linking nicely with fellow big Rudy Gobert in the pick and roll.
But Australia found a way to curb his influence.
Patty Mills had 15 first-quarter points to finish with a game-high 24 and Giddey (20 points, eight assists, six rebounds) continued his hot form.
Daniels had five steals and five assists to go with 14 points, his defence leading to a Mills four-point play in the first quarter in a demonstration of how the new-look Boomers want to play.
Spain beat the Boomers by one point to win Rio bronze and then knocked them off in double-overtime in the 2019 World Cup semi-final.
The Boomers will also play Canada and Greece, with only the top two sides guaranteed passage to the quarter-finals.
Mills powered the Boomers to a maiden international medal, Australia claiming bronze at Tokyo’s postponed 2021 Games.
But they battled in the 2023 World Cup and failed to progress from their pool, prompting Goorjian to recall veteran guard Matthew Dellavedova for the Paris tilt.
“You just see it, every move around this thing, how bad he wants this,” Goorjian said of Mills.
“When I made the (selection) moves I made, there was too much of that missing.”
