Giannis, Greece face dim Paris hopes after loss
Greece’s hopes of advancing to the men’s basketball knockout round at the Paris Olympics suffered a devastating blow Tuesday with an 84-77 loss to Spain.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Greece, which fell to 0-2 in Group A.
After losing their opening games on Saturday, Greece and Spain both came out essentially playing for their tournament lives, with the loser facing a must-win scenario on Friday — and likely lots of help — to have any chance of advancing.
Greece will face Australia in its final chance to earn a victory before the field is trimmed to eight teams. Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP and eight-time All-Star for the Milwaukee Bucks, has 61 combined points on 67.6% shooting in Greece’s two losses.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama had 19 points and 12 rebounds while Sergio Llull scored 13 points for Spain, which improved to 1-1 with one group-stage game left to play against Canada.
After cutting a 14-point halftime deficit to one point early in the fourth quarter, Greece tied the score at 71 on Antetokounmpo’s emphatic, driving left-handed dunk over Aldama.
But Spain steadied over the next few minutes, scoring the next eight points.
“It’s tough with a guy like him to make the defensive play,” Aldama said. “You can either make the defensive play or try to block the shot. … I tried, got [posterized], but next play.”
Greece pulled back to within 80-77 with 59 seconds left, but Antetokounmpo had a 3-pointer from the top of the key bounce off the rim.
Antetokounmpo set the tone for his team early, getting to the rim on multiple occasions, including a putback dunk over Usman Garuba.
Aldama did the same for Spain, leading all scorers out of the gate with 10 first-quarter points. He also got support from his teammates during a 13-3 run to end the second quarter that put Spain in front 49-35 at halftime.
Spain has a big health concern going forward after Rudy Fernandez left late in the fourth quarter after a collision under the basket and was helped by trainers to the locker room.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
