Dallas Mavericks guard Dante Exum and the Australian men’s national team fell to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, 77-71. The loss gives the Boomers a 1-2 record in Group A play.
Exum came off the bench and scored six points to go along with three rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes. Jock Landale led Australia with 17 points. Patty Mills had 13 points.
It wasn’t enough against Antetokounmpo and the Greeks. Giannis scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out six assists, and had two steals.
Australia dominated the second half of the game, outscoring Greece 35-24 in the final 20 minutes. But the Boomers weren’t able to overcome a dreadful second quarter, in which they only scored 12 points to fall behind, 53-36, at the half.
Despite the loss, Exum and the Aussies are advancing to the group of eight single elimination tournament. They’ll join Dwight Powell and Canada, France, Germany, Brazil, and the United States as the teams that have qualified to advance to the next round so far.
The final two spots will be determined by Saturday’s matchup between Serbia and South Sudan in Group C.