Game Report: Australian Boomers v Puerto Rico

Saturday, July 20, 2024

It was a comprehensive all-round performance from the Boomers against the 16th world-ranked Puerto Rican team.

The Australian Boomers have enjoyed another solid performance as their preparations continue for the Olympics, defeating Puerto Rico by 15 points in a warm-up game in France.

Josh Giddey led the way with 19 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, complemented by Patty Mills with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and a +29 index for the night.

Joe Ingles was in-form from beyond the arc, with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting.

It was a comprehensive all-round performance from the Boomers against the 16th world-ranked Puerto Rican team, with Josh Green (10 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds), Jack McVeigh (9 points, 4 rebounds) and Jock Landale (12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) all influential in the win.

The Australian team finished with 30 assists in total, and scored 21 fast-break points in a professional display.

“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 Boomers were strong defensively, led by Dyson Daniels, keeping Puerto Rico to just 75 points, after holding Serbia to 73 just a couple of nights earlier.

“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 added.

Code Sports reported Dante Exum being sidelined for much of the game out after an early head collision with Duop Reath was purely a precautionary measure, with the Dallas Maverick cleared of concussion and alleviating fears of missing any Olympics action.

It’s been an impressive week for the Boomers, having pushed Team USA all the way in their exhibition game in Abu Dhabi, before defeating Serbia two nights later.

Australia next takes on France on Monday morning at 5am AEST. The Boomers’ Olympic campaign gets underway on July 27 against Spain.

AUSTRALIA 90 (Giddey 19, Mills 15, Landale 12)
PUERTO RICO 75 (Romero 17, Ford 10, Ortiz 9)