Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Greece team had their backs against the wall heading into the final game of the Olympic group stages. After an 86-79 defeat to Canada and 84-77 defeat to Spain, they had to beat Australia by three or more points in order to remain in with a chance of progressing to the knockouts.
Giannis was dominant again, leading all scorers with 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals as Greece won 77-71. Thomas Walkup added 18 with Vasilis Toliopoulos and Dinos Mitoglou both scoring 13 points. Australia's highest scorer was Jock Landale with 17 points, while Josh Giddey came into the game looking strong, yet only scored nine points on 25 percent shooting.
Greece was dominant in the first half, having led by one at the end of the first quarter. They won the second quarter 28-12 to give them a 53-36 lead heading into the half. However, Australia forced their way back into the game with a 14-9 third quarter and a 21-15 final quarter, bringing them within as few as two points of Greece.
Things now get complicated as the top two teams from each group advance to the quarter-finals, with the two-best placed third-place teams also progressing. Should those teams be tied with the same record, point differential then decides.
What must happen for Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo
Greece sits with a 1-2 record and a point differential of minus-8. Brazil finished third in Group B and also has a 1-2 record, but their point differential is minus-7. This means Greece is now relying on the Serbia vs South Sudan game, which takes place on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST, to decide whether they go through. Australia advance if Canada defeats Spain at 11:15 a.m. CST, if Spain win then Australia are eliminated.
Per Eric Nehm of the Athletic (subscription required) here is what we know about current scenarios:
- Serbia currently has a point differential of plus-15. South Sudan has a point differential of minus-6.
- If Serbia wins, they will finish second and leave Brazil, Greece and South Sudan as the third-placed teams, now relying on margins of victory for Serbia.
- If Serbia wins by one, South Sudan and Brazil both advance with a minus-7 point differential.
- If Serbia wins by two, South Sudan and Greece would both sit on minus-8. Following point differential comes total points. Greece has scored a total of 233 points; South Sudan has scored 176 points, meaning they would just need to score 58 points to progress should they lose by two.
- If Serbia wins by three or more, South Sudan would be on minus-9 point differential and Greece would advance with Brazil.
- If South Sudan wins, then Greece would need them to win by 23 in order to push Serbia behind Greece in point differential.
Now we sit and wait for the outcome of what NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and his Serbian team can do tomorrow to make it easy viewing for Greece fans and Giannis and his teammates. Until then, all they can do is wait and see if their journey in France continues.
If that was the last game for Greece in this Olympics, then they have done themselves proud, and Giannis has shown MVP form already with three outstanding performances.
Stay tuned to see if Giannis and Greece will progress at the Olympics.