Men’s basketball roundup: Canada tops Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece
RJ Barrett scored 23 points and Canada overcame a 34-point outburst from Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Greece 86-79 on Saturday in a Group A game at the Paris Olympics.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Canadians, who held the Greeks to 39 percent shooting from the field.
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Even though his team lost, Antetokounmpo took over on the offensive end, going 11-for-17 from the field and 12-for-15 from the free-throw line. Kostas Papanikolaou was Greece’s only other scorer in double figures, as the former Houston Rocket and Denver Nugget chipped in 17 points.
Antetokounmpo split a pair of free throws to get the Greeks within 82-79 with 32 seconds left in the game, but Jamal Murray answered with two foul shots 17 seconds later to put Canada up by five.
The Canadians led 48-38 at the break and took a 68-60 cushion into the final quarter.
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France 78, Brazil 66
San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama and Nicolas Batum each scored 19 points to lift France over Brazil in Group B action.
Playing in front of their home fans, the French pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Brazilians 18-9.
Cristiano Felicio and Leo Meindl each finished with 14 points for Brazil, which committed 20 turnovers that led to 26 points for France. Joao Cardoso helped the Brazilians get off to a fast start by throwing home a dunk over Rudy Gobert.
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Germany 97, Japan 77
Franz Wagner led a balanced attack with 22 points and six boards as Germany blew by Japan in a Group B game.
Wagner’s brother and Orlando Magic teammate, Moritz Wagner, supplied 15 points off the bench for the Germans, who also got 18 points and seven rebounds from Daniel Theis.
Rui Hachimura netted 20 points for Japan, which saw all five of its starters score at least 10 points but failed to get contributions from a second unit that was outscored 38-7.
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Australia 92, Spain 80
Jock Landale went for 20 points and nine rebounds, propelling Australia to a victory over Spain in Group A.
Patty Mills added 19 points and Josh Giddey collected 17 to go along with eight boards and eight assists as the Australians led for 39:28 of the 40-minute affair.
Santi Aldama cashed in on six of his eight 3-point attempts en route to a game-high 27 points for the Spaniards. However, Spain was overpowered on the glass, hauling in just 33 rebounds to Australia’s 46.
