It’s come at a cost, however, with Cameron Bairstow suffering an apparent shoulder injury.

The former NBA forward was taken to the medical room clutching his left arm late in the third quarter of their final preliminary round game. It’s unclear how serious the injury is.

Even without Bairstow and NBA star Patty Mills, who was rested, the Boomers still trumped their South American opponents to secure second spot in their group behind the United States.

Chris Goulding top-scored with 22 points, while Andrew Bogut – who sat out last game against China – had 10 points and Joe Ingles chipped in 11 points.

The prime position means they will play a lower-ranked side from the opposing pool in the first elimination round – but who remains to be seen with final places to be decided.

It won’t be confirmed until the last games are played on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

Australia finished fourth in their group the past two Olympics before being knocked out in the quarter-finals by the US. The last time they ranked second was Atlanta in 1996, when they came fourth.

The Boomers never really looked like they were going to be troubled by the Venezuelans, who have been the least accurate shooters in the competition.

The world No.22 side sunk just three from 18 shots in the first quarter, which Australia won 16-6.

It improved in the second term, when the gap narrowed to just four points, but the green and gold still went into the half-time break up 32-25. They extended that to 53-43 at three-quarter time when they lost Bairstow, and held on in the fourth for the final margin.

It was a very different result in the hockey, with the Netherlands beating the Kookaburras 4-0 to send them home early after a nightmare quarter-final.

The Australian campaign never really got off the ground in Rio, but few would have predicted the punishing end they copped to the tournament, with the Dutch going 1-0 up on 49 seconds.

Questions are already being asked of coach Graham Reid and his side about how they can dominate world hockey, holding every major title in the game, only to fall short at the Games.

“All of the things we’ve done over the last four years have put us in a position where you feel as though everything is in the right place but it’s only the cauldron of the Olympics that really tests,” Reid said.

“The Olympic Games is a different pressure.”

Reid knows his position is under threat as part of the inevitable fallout from Rio.

“I’ve (got) unfinished business now I can tell you, but we’ll work that out over the next month or two,” he said.

“I’m planning on trying to keep my job, we’ll see how we go.”

The loss in Rio ends the Kookaburras’ streak of winning a medal at six consecutive Olympics, and also means they haven’t won gold since Athens in 2004 despite being a dominant force in the men’s game.

It was a tough loss for captain Mark Knowles to take.

“I thought we were as well prepared as we have been. We put significantly more work into this than we have at any Olympic period that I have been apart of,” said the Athens gold medallist.

“We spoke after Beijing eight years ago, we spoke after London four years ago … about how we need to do it on the big stage when it really matters.

“That was an unacceptable performance from the players and myself as an individual and as a leader of the team I take responsibility for how we played.”

The Kookaburras farewelled legendary four-time Olympian and gold medallist Jamie Dwyer who announced before the Games that Rio would be his swansong.

-AAP