Double blow as Yi takes a hit in loss to Australia
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, August 3, 2012
China's hopes of reaching the Olympic men's basketball playoffs took a double blow yesterday with NBA star Yi Jianlian suffering a knee injury in winless China's 61-81 loss to Australia.
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Yi Jianlian suffered an injury in China's loss to Australia. |
Yi was helped off the court by teammates after the defeat, which could put China (0-3) in position to miss the quarterfinals if the Aussies (1-2) defeat Britain tomorrow to clinch a berth in the medal playoffs.
"He took a bang just above the knee, not on the knee," China's American coach Bob Donewald said. "We'll have to see how he is."
Aussie coach Brett Brown knows how big a loss Yi would be for China. "He commands different types of defensive adjustment," Brown said. "They get good 3-point shots because he makes it tough on the inside."
Patrick Mills scored 20 points for Australia while David Andersen added 17 points and seven rebounds and Joe Ingles had 13 points and seven rebounds as the Boomers put themselves on the verge of the knockout stage.
Wang Shipeng led China with 21 points and Yi added 13 in a losing cause.
"I'm very disappointed," Wang said. "We just want to fight for every single match. The morale of the team is just not to give up. We want to play a better standard."
Yi Li hit a jump shot at the buzzer to give China a 22-21 lead after the first quarter but China went cold shooting in the second quarter and the Aussies had runs of 14-6 and 9-0 in rolling to a 49-33 half-time edge.
"It was tough and physical, just the way we want it," Mills said. "We wanted to get back on track. We're ready to take on the challenge and make the next round."
China trimmed the Boomers' lead to 61-52 entering the fourth quarter, nine points in the quarter from Wang boosting Chinese hopes.
But China went scoreless for more than five minutes to start the final period while the Aussies went on a 14-3 run that sealed victory.
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