By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Greece had already secured the top seed, Estonia was out of the second phase and their last game for Group C ended up being a one-man show for 15 minutes. That was the time that Giannis Antetokounmpo needed in order to score 25 points on 9/10 FG, as Greece cruised to the 90-69 win.
To be exact, Greece led by 15 at halftime (51-36) and by 26 (69-43) in the second with Giannis already resting after a bump with Kerr Kriisa which was called an offensive foul for the Greek Freak. Giannis apparently twisted his ankle on that play and ultimately played less than 20 minutes. Head coach Dimitris Itoudis downplayed the severity of the injury following the Gameday 5 fixture.
“Giannis was substituted and he would not be back in the game. He got iced and rehabilitated like he does behind closed doors. This time it was public,” detailed the Greece senior national team play-caller in the postgame press conference, “It’s all good.”
This was the first game in which Greece had a full roster with Kostas Antetokounmpo making his first appearance in the tournament and still being visibly affected by his injury woes, finishing the night with just one block and not much else.
“We managed to share the time,” mentioned Itoudis, “It was also a good thing that Kostas Antetokounmpo was back with us and got quality minutes.”
Kostas Sloukas added 11 poιnts for the winning side.
“This first part was done. A new tournament starts for us,” said captain Kostas Papanikolaou after putting in eight points in the fifth win of the group stage referring to the knockout stage of the tournament to be held in Berlin, “We must be fully focused in Germany.”
Siim-Sander Vene with 19 points was the top scorer of Estonia, while Kriisa and Janari Joesaar added 12 points each.
Greece will face the Czech Republic on Sunday in Berlin in the Round of 16, while the tournament is over for Estonia.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL