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Giannis, Greece beat Doncic, Slovenia to advance to OQT final

Published Jul 7, 2024 01:32 am

At A Glance

  • An Olympics berth has eluded Giannis Antetokounmpo so far during his basketball career. He's one more victory away from changing that.

An Olympics berth has eluded Giannis Antetokounmpo so far during his basketball career. He’s one more victory away from changing that.

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Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo, rear, hugs Slovenia's Luka Doncic. (AP)

Thomas Walkup had 19 points, Antetokounmpo added 13 points in 21 minutes and Greece moved one victory from the Paris Games, eliminating Luka Doncic and Slovenia 96-68 on Saturday, July 6, from the semifinals of the Olympic qualifying tournament.

“Since coach (Vassilis) Spanoulis took this whole deal over, it's been one goal and that's to get to the Olympics,” Walkup said. “We're one game away from it. We have to stay humble and focused.”

Doncic finished with 21 points in the game in Piraeus, Greece, which marked first time the two NBA megastars faced one another while representing their senior national teams.

“They played way better than us. They were way more aggressive," Doncic said. "I think they have an amazing team. Obviously, they have Giannis. But other pieces are very important for them, too. And they’re very well-coached. ... They outplayed us today.”

The matchup was one of eight semifinals taking place to determine the last four berths in the men’s basketball field for the Paris Games.

Vasileios Toliopoulos added 14 points for Greece, which will meet Croatia on Sunday in the final of the Greece tournament, with the Paris Olympics berth going to the winner.

Other semifinal games took place Saturday at tournaments in Spain, Latvia and Puerto Rico.

Doncic, who played through injuries in the NBA Finals for the Dallas Mavericks in their five-game loss to the Boston Celtics, averaged 31 points in Slovenia’s first two qualifying games. But he came out flat on Saturday against Greece’s big front line.

Slovenia was put on its heels early, as Greece scored the game’s first 13 points and took a 32-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Greece’s advantage grew as high as 23 points in the second quarter before Slovenia used a late flurry to cut it to 47-33 at the half.

Greece came out fast again in the third, using a 11-3 run to get some distance and carried a 16-point edge into the fourth quarter.

Slovenia shot just 43% (23 of 54) from the field for the game. That compared to 54% (34 of 70) for Greece, which also held a 38-25 rebounding edge.

Croatia 80, Dominican Republic 77

Ivica Zubac went 10 of 10 from the field and finished with 25 points and nine rebounds to help Croatia outlast the Dominican Republic in Greece’s second semifinals of the day.

Dario Saric and Jaleen Smith added 14 points apiece to put Croatia into Sunday’s final with Greece for a chance at making back to the Olympics for the first time since 2016.

Christopher Duarte finished with 17 points to lead the Dominican Republic.

The game featured 13 ties and six lead changes and was in doubt heading into the final seconds.

Trailing 78-74, the Dominican Republic’s Jean Montero got a steal and was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 3 seconds left by Croatia’s Smith.

Montero converted all three ensuing free throws to cut the deficit to a point.

The Dominican Republic quickly fouled Mario Hezonja, who connected on both of his ensuing free throws.

Duarte got a good look at a 3 at the buzzer, but his shot rimmed out.

Related Tags

Luka Doncic Giannis Antetokounmpo
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