Giannis Antetokounmpo's latest EuroBasket performance is making Doc Rivers' job easy, showing off his playmaking skills and that he should be the full-time point forward for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Greece claimed top spot in Group C with a nail-biting 90-86 win over Spain. The reigning champions made a game of it late, but in the end, they exited EuroBasket at the group phase for the first time in history. Giannis finished the night with 25 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, just one assist away from becoming the sixth player in EuroBasket history to notch a triple-double.
Giannis at point forward is unstoppable
Spain needed to win Thursday's final group phase game to progress to the round of 16. Their defensive scheme was obvious from tip-off: double Giannis. They would foul Giannis on every transition and play a 3-2 zone, but that didn't stop the Greek Freak from notching four assists in the first quarter alone.
The gravity that Giannis possesses is clear for all to see, but his vision and passing have been criminally underrated for some time. Add in former Atlanta Hawks guard Tyler Dorsey shooting 6-of-9 (66.6 percent) from deep, and you have a recipe for success.
Translating the same format to the NBA is being made simple for Rivers, who recently said he takes inspiration from international coaches on schemes and sets to run. Throughout EuroBasket, Greece's head coach, Vassilis Spanoulis, has used Giannis as the initiator on offense, while having Giannis spend defensive possessions in the paint as the lone rim protector to force teams to rely on their outside scoring, of which Spain shot 9-of-28 (32 percent).
Offensively, Giannis continued to show his dominance in the halfcourt, with four defenders surrounding him unable to prevent him from scoring. Even in the mid-range, Spain threw two defenders his way, with the two-time MVP hitting a smooth turnaround jumper over Santi Aldama and a teammate. That was just the start of a tough night for the Memphis Grizzlies forward, allowing Giannis to fly past him in the third quarter, and despite Aldama swiping down at both arms, the Greek superstar forced his way through for the and-one.
The reigning EuroBasket champions made a game of it in the fourth quarter, coming back from as far as 16 points down to take the lead. Giannis then pulled off one of his most outlandish assists yet, pulling up in the mid-range and firing a bounce pass to the corner for Kostas Sloukas to drain the 3-pointer.
Nothing could separate the sides heading into the dying seconds of the game. Former Denver Nugget Juancho Hernangomez was fouled on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining but would miss all three attempts from the free-throw line and throw even more tension into a game that didn't need it. Sloukas nailed two free throws of his own, and heading into the final few seconds, it became a case of Spain shooting threes and hoping for contact.