With an 84-77 loss against Spain on Tuesday, Greece’s hopes of making it to the men’s basketball knockout round of the Olympics in Paris were severely damaged.
Greece dropped to 0-2 in Group A despite 27 points and 11 rebounds from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Greece and Spain entered the competition almost battling for their lives after losing their opening matches on Saturday. The loser would need to win on Friday and probably receive a lot of assistance in order to have any chance of moving on.
Greece’s last opportunity to win before the field is reduced to eight teams comes against Australia. In Greece’s two losses, Antetokounmpo—a two-time NBA MVP and eight-time All-Star for the Milwaukee Bucks—has scored 61 points in total on 67.6% shooting.
Spain advanced to 1-1 with one game remaining in the group round against Canada, led by 13 points from Sergio Llull and 19 points from Memphis Grizzlies big Santi Aldama.
Early in the fourth quarter, Greece rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to within one point, and Antetokounmpo’s forceful, driving left-handed slam over Aldama tied the score at 71.
However, Spain gained the following eight points with a steady play over the next six minutes.
“It’s tough with a guy like him to make the defensive play,” Aldama stated. “You have two options: try to stop the shot or make the defensive play. I attempted, was [posterized], but next time, play.”
With 59 seconds remaining, Greece managed to close the gap to 80-77, but Antetokounmpo’s 3-point attempt from the top of the key bounced off the hoop.
Antetokounmpo got to the rim many times, including a putback dunk over Usman Garuba, to set the tone for his side early.
Aldama led all scorers early on for Spain, scoring 10 points in the opening quarter. Spain led 49-35 at the half thanks to a 13-3 run at the end of the second quarter, which he also had assistance from his teammates for.
Rudy Fernandez departed the game late in the fourth quarter due to a collision under the basket and was assisted by trainers to the locker room, raising serious concerns about his health moving forward for Spain.