In their first game of preparation for the Eurobasket, the renewed Spanish basketball team suffered a resounding defeat against Greece (86-70) in a duel where NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo (31 points and 10 rebounds) pulled his own, assumed all the protagonism and managed to placate the threat of reaction from Sergio Scariolo's men in the second half.
The confrontation began with the Milwaukee Bucks player and Willy Hernángómez holding their respective teams offensively in the first scores. They were the few moments in which Spain withstood the pull since from 5-7 the current world champions would not get ahead again.
An 8-0 run, in which Dorsey and Papanikolau joined Antetokounmpo's scoring inspiration, gave wings to a local team that from that moment began to look superior against an opponent that suffered excessively in defense.
It was the beginning of the match where Greece more than doubled the score of the Spaniards, who could not find solutions in either of the two baskets. Thus, with seven minutes played in the second quarter, the difference was twenty-one points (46-25), despite the fact that five unanswered points from debutant Lorenzo Brown had given the visitors some air, putting them down fifteen.
Spain suffered and was overwhelmed. But that was where she hit rock bottom. A 10-2 run with baskets by the Hernangómez brothers, by Rudy Fernández and a triple by Jaime Fernández made it 48-35 at halftime and showed that, beyond the adjustments that must be made in the game, the claw has not been lost in this new stage.
However, that dynamic was not enough to stop the power of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who came back from the locker room plugged in to score seven of the host's first nine points in the third quarter. That streak again raised the income to nineteen (59-40) and, once again, Spain emerged from the abyss.
Step by step, thanks to four points from Sebas Saiz, a triple from Brizuela and successes from Sima and López-Aróstegui, the panorama radically changed and an 11-1 was forged that caused Spain to face the decisive fourth only six down ( 63-57, min 30).
It was then that Antekounmpo appeared once again to put things in their place. The Bucks player again carried the team on his broad shoulders and this time he did it definitively, scoring repeatedly and activating his teammates and the pavilion, which he enjoyed with the display of his star.
In just over five minutes he converted nine points of all colors that extinguished the Spanish fire and raised the lead to over fifteen points again. It was the final stone on which victory was built. Two days of reflection and analysis now await Spain to take revenge in Madrid, where they will meet again on Thursday.
86 - Grecia (31 19 13 24): Calathes (7), Dorsey (11), Papanikolau (5), Giannis Antetokounmpo (31), Kostas Antetokounmpo (7) -cinco inicial-, Agrabanis (9), Kalaitzakis (4) , Papapetrou (2), Thanasis Antetokounmpo (3), Larentzakis (3), Bochoridis (2), Kaselakis (2).
70 - Spain (13 22 22 13): Brown (7), Pradilla (10), López-Arostegui (4), Willy Hernangómez (15), Juancho Hernangómez (4) -five starting-, Rudy Fernández (3), Colom (3), Saiz (8), Parra (-), Sima (3), Brizuela (8), Yusta (2), Jaime Fernández (3).
Arbitros: Elias Koromilas (GRE), Petros Papapetrou (GRE) and George Poursanidis (GRE). Sin eliminados.
Incidents: Friendly preparatory match for the Eurobasket played at the OAKA pavilion in Athens before more than 11,000 spectators.
