Giannis Antetokounmpo rested, and his brother, Kostas, has not yet made his EuroBasket debut but Greece got the 93-77 win against Great Britain on Monday without feeling much pressure.
Kostas Sloukas scored 21 points, ensuring that Greece remains on top of the Group C standings with a 3-0 record.
Center George Papagiannis who is coming off injury finished the game with seventeen points (8/11 FG) and six rebounds. Captain Kostas Papanikolaou and Michalis Loutzis added ten points each.
🎯 @kos_slou CANNOT MISS 💯#EuroBasket x #BringTheNoise pic.twitter.com/IPtPTRIWrj
— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 5, 2022
“When Giannis is not in the lineup, everybody has got to give extra—twice the energy, twice the hustle, twice the things he does on the court,” said Greece forward Kostas Papanikolaou.
“So you have to out-hustle the previous performances…And I think in the second half, we did a great job,” he added.
“After two big wins, it’s expected to have a little loss of concentration, to be a little bit loose,” Greece’s head coach Dimitrios Itoudis said. “That’s why we have to work a little but more as coaches. We had to rotate differently.”
Greece beat Croatia and Italy in the EuroBasket
On Saturday, Greece outlasted co-hosts Italy 85–81 in a compelling encounter in Milan.
Giannis Antetokounmpo made 8/15 from the field and 8/9 free throws. Lasting thirty minutes, he also tallied eleven rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block.
Tyler Dorsey, who scored 23 points, was once again a key element for the Greek team, providing a decent alternative to Antetokounmpo for the offense when the Bucks superstar was troubled by two or three opponents.
Greece started its EuroBasket campaign with a hard-fought 89-85 win over Croatia in Milan on Friday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo came to the rescue with two blocks, a dunk, and a goal foul in the last minute to give Greece the win against feisty Croatia.
Greece, which is now the favorite to top Group C, will now face Ukraine on Tuesday and will wrap up the group stage against Estonia on Thursday.
There are twenty-four nations participating in EuroBasket, and they are split into four groups—Group A, Group B, Group C, and Group D. Each of those groups features six teams.
According to a vote of the International Basketball Federation, Greece is considered the third favorite to win the gold medal behind France and Slovenia.
Greece garnered 15.2 percent of the votes while France and Slovenia are tied for first place with 30.4 percent. Serbia was fourth with 12.7 percent in the pre-game polls.
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