Australians in the NBA - October 10, 2023

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

In pre-season NBA action, Ben Simmons played 17 minutes and finished with 10 points and three assists.

Pre-season is underway in the NBA, and in Las Vegas, Ben Simmons did his best to prove he was again a talent to be reckoned with, attacking the rim in Brooklyn's 129-126 loss to Los Angeles.

The Australian struggled in 42 games last season after missing the entire 2021-22 campaign as he battled to first leave Philadelphia and then endure back and knee trouble.

He has completed an entire pre-season though and, after draining a series of three-point shots in the warm-up, played with intent as the Nets' primary ball-handler.

He drove past LeBron James on one of three physical drives to the rim and added a fast break dunk, playing 17 minutes and finishing with 10 points on four-of-six shooting and three assists - all in the first half.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ben gets us on the board <a href="https://t.co/2ziBg1x3zF">pic.twitter.com/2ziBg1x3zF</a></p>— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets/status/1711551367175659577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Dante Exum played nearly 20 minutes in his return to the NBA with Dallas in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, scoring five points and adding five assists in a loss to Minnesota.

Boomers teammate Josh Green (six points, three rebounds, one steal) started in that game for the Mavericks.

Their side will play Real Madrid in Spain on Wednesday, while Joe Ingles could get his first minutes with Orlando in a clash with Dyson Daniels' New Orleans.

And the NBL's Cairns Taipans, fresh off a defeat of Brisbane on Saturday, will play in Washington against a Wizards team featuring Boomers and former Sydney Kings Xavier Cooks and Dejan Vasiljevic.