Greece’s valiant effort not enough as Canada prevails 86-79

A final comeback for Greece was not enough and Canada, the pre-game favorite, came out on top, 86-79, in the national basketball team’s opening Group A game at the 2024 Olympics in Lille, France, Saturday.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 points for Greece, 18 in the second half, and Kostas Papanikolaou added 17, but none in the final period. R.J. Barrett led Canada with 23 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks added 21 and 14, respectively.

Greece, which never led during the game, trailed by as many as 16 points (40-56) early in the third quarter. It whittled Canada’s lead down to as few as 2 points (78-80) 1:04 before the end, after Thomas Walkup stole the ball and fed Antetokounmpo for a dunk. But, in Canada’s next possession, Gilgeous-Alexander banked in a shot over Antetokounmpo’s outstretched hands to make it 82-78 42.8 seconds from the end. This proved to be the decisive basket, as Antetokounmpo missed a free throw when he was fouled and he, in turn, fouled Jamal Murray, who did not miss his free throws with 15.4 seconds left.

At the start, Greece’s guards, Walkup and Nick Calathes, were flummoxed by the pressure put upon them by their Canadian counterparts, Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort and Greece’s offensive flow was disrupted. Canada led by as much as 22-9 before reserve guards Giannoulis Larentzakis and Vasilis Toliopoulos steadied the offense. Greece went on a 13-2 run, even as Canada’s defensive attention shifted to Antetokounmpo, and Canada’s lead shrank to 24-22, before Murray scored to close the first quarter, 26-22.

Brooks restored Canada’s double-digit lead (35-25) and Canada’s lead hovered around that mark for the rest of the second quarter, which ended 48-38. Antetokounmpo did score 16 points at the half, but had to work for all of them, while the much shorter Brooks put in a great job to pressure Giannis, who often had to go beyond the three-point line to get the ball. Papanikolaou, who had started by making three 3-pointers, had 11 at the half.

Canada expanded its lead to its maximum (56-40) early in the third quarter, but first Dort, with 7:42 to go in the third quarter, and then Brooks (4:18) were benched with 4 fouls each. Of course, Canada, a medal prospect with 10 NBAers on its squad, could afford to bring the Denver Nuggets’ Murray off the bench. He may not have scored many points – he ended up with 8 – but he helped steady his team, while some of its key players were out.

By the end of the third quarter, Greece, led again by Antetokounmpo and Papanikolaou, had closed to 68-60, but, at the end, Greece’s trainers were tending to Giannis’ right knee and he was visibly.

Greece closed to 68-72 with 7:27 to go, but then missed several chances to get closer, as did Canada, to expand its lead. The score remained unchanged for two and a half minutes, until Dort, and then, 30 seconds later, Gilgeous-Alexander scored back-to-vack 3s to restore a double digit lead. Canada expanded its lead to 80-68, before Greece went on a 10-0 run, culminating with Giannis’ dunk that brought Greece within 2 points.

Canada had three players foul out: Dwight Powell, Brooks and Dort, while Calathes did the same for Greece.

Earlier Saturday, Australia beat Spain 92-80 in the other Group A match. Greece faces Spain Tuesday and Australia Friday. The first two teams will advance to the quarterfinals as well as the two best third-place teams from the three qualifying groups.