EuroBasket 2025 has seen some huge upsets in recent days, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece refused to have the same fate, defeating Israel 84-79 to move on to the quarter-finals of Europe's premium competition.
Nikola Jokic and his Serbian team were upset by Finland on Saturday, and earlier on Sunday, we saw France sent home by Georgia. The Milwaukee Bucks star dominated for his national team once again, putting up 37 points and 10 rebounds on 18-of-23 (78 percent) shooting in just 29 minutes. He only had two free-throw attempts, with his command of the paint controlling the game as Greece never found themselves behind.
Giannis will move on as Jokic heads home
Greece and Giannis were out of the blocks quickly, establishing his much-improved mid-range game early, and a fastbreak dunk that saw Israel's Yam Madar jump out of the way. The first quarter ended with Greece up by six thanks to Giannis throwing down another dunk to take his total to 13 points.
In the final group phase game, Spain was double-teaming and sometimes triple-teaming Giannis to force the ball out of his hands. Israel opened with plenty of help coverage, but at no point targeted the Greek Freak with multiple defenders, and once again, that didn't work. They tried to force the others to beat them, and held Greece to 4-of-25 (16 percent) from deep, so it worked to some extent. Israel's interior defenders tried taking charges, but still had no way of slowing down Giannis.
The first half came to a close with Greece up 50-41, with Giannis leading the way with 21 points on 10-of-12 (83 percent) shooting in just 13 minutes. Both Greece and Milwaukee have always struggled in their minutes without Giannis on the court. Defensively, Vassilis Spanoulis went like-for-like, subbing in Kostas Antetokounmpo and dropping him in the paint as the lone rim protector. Doc Rivers was at the group phase games and hinted at potentially using some of Greece's plays with the Bucks.
A slow start to the second half allowed Israel right back into the game, with Giannis and his teammates allowing their opponents into the bonus just minutes into the third. After settling down and crashing the glass, Greece pulled away, heading into the final quarter.
Despite elimination staring them in the face, Israel continued to leave Giannis one-on-one and not double. This allowed him to continue asserting dominance in the paint, and with no tight coverage, the post and mid-range game opened up too. They didn't go down without a fight, applying a full-court press and making it a six-point game with 30 seconds to play.
Greece got lucky late on, but Giannis put the exclamation mark on the win with a block and then found himself on the end of an alley-oop to send Greece into the final eight.
Lithuania awaits in the quarter-finals, which will take place on Tuesday, September 9.