LILLE, France – Greece edged Australia 77-71 in Group A to remain in contention in the Paris Olympic men’s basketball competition on Friday, August 2, as Brazil beat Japan, 102-84, to secure third place in Group B in its bid to reach the quarterfinals in the final round of games.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was prolific as usual, scoring 20 points with 7 rebounds and 6 assists to lead his team to its first win of the pool stage.
The “Greek Freak” was helped by Dinos Mitoglou and Thomas Walkup, who finished with a combined 31 points.
The victory keeps Greece in contention for a place in the quarterfinals, with the Aussies also still in the mix, though both sides must wait for the result of Friday’s game between Canada, who have already qualified, and Spain.
At the end of the group phase, the top eight teams from the combined ranking qualify for the quarterfinals.
Brazil secured third place in Group B, while Germany and France, which meet later on Friday, have already booked places in the last eight.
The hero for the “Verde-Amarela” was forward Bruno Caboclo, who scored an impressive 33 points and made 17 rebounds.
“It’s the biggest stage of basketball,” Caboclo told reporters. “(Being) in the national team is bigger than NBA or anything. The Olympics are the biggest in the world.”
“Every athlete wants to be here, at least one time. We were able to accomplish that.”
“Hopefully, we can go to the quarterfinals. And from there, we have another goal – to go to the semifinals,” he added.
Brazil will have to wait for the results of the other group games to see if it finishes among the top two third-placed teams to progress to the next stage. – Rappler.com
