Greece “took care” of Israel and advanced to the quarterfinals!

Although it didn’t manage to… wrap things up early, our National Team had control and the lead throughout the entire game, eventually securing the 84–79 victory and celebrating qualification to the EuroBasket 2025 quarterfinals, where it will face Lithuania!

With Giannis delivering one of his best performances with the National Team, scoring 37 points and once again being its biggest star, Vassilis Spanoulis’ squad, despite shooting just 4/24 from three, kept its composure as the opponent stayed close down the stretch, now looking to take yet another step on Tuesday, 9/9 (21:00) against the Lithuanians to enter medal territory.

Apart from MVP Giannis (37 points on 18/21 twos, 10 rebounds), Sloukas also scored in double digits (11 pts, 4 rebs, 2 ast), while Samontourov was the X factor with 7 points and 6 rebounds in 16:14 of playing time. Papapetrou was also key (8 pts, 4 rebs, 4 ast and several strong defensive plays on Avdija), reaching 169 appearances with the national emblem on his chest, surpassing the legendary Nikos Galis’ 168 and climbing to 10th place on the all-time list!

On the other side, Israel had standouts in Avdija (23 pts), Sorkin (14 pts, 6 rebs) and Ginat (15 pts, 5 rebs).

The game:

The contest began with Sloukas opening the scoring and Giannis making his first basket with a mid-range jumper, before overpowering his defender in the paint for 6–2. Sloukas hit a free throw for 7–2, Papapetrou sank the team’s first three-pointer for 10–4, and Giannis went coast to coast for an and-one that made it 12–6! Ginat scored 6 straight points to cut it to 12–8 and 14–10, but Dorsey answered (16–10), and then Giannis again, with back-to-back and-ones, stretched the lead to +9 (21–12), already in double figures early on!

Avdija scored his first basket with a layup (21–14), Carrington hit a triple (21–17), before Toliopoulos scored for 23–17. Greece maintained this small cushion until the end of the first quarter, with Kalaitzakis scoring on a layup for 26–20 and then serving a beautiful assist for Giannis’ buzzer-beating dunk!

The second quarter opened with Mitoglou making it 30–22 with an and-one, but Carrington hit his second three (30–25), and Sorkin’s free throws cut it to 31–27. Giannis dazzled with a behind-the-back dribble and emphatic dunk (33–27), Sorkin responded, but Kalaitzakis stole and finished in transition (35–29). Sorkin hit a three to reach 9 points (35–32), but the dominant Giannis scored twice more in the paint to reach 19 points and restore the +7 lead (39–32)!

Madar’s free throws were answered by another Giannis bucket, then Avdija connected from deep (41–37). Mitoglou scored after grabbing an offensive rebound on Giannis’ first miss of the night (after 10/10 twos), then Kostas pushed it to +8 (45–37). Dorsey scored in isolation and Sloukas buried a three, sending Greece ahead by 11 (50–39). After a dry spell of 2:17, Levi closed the half at 50–41, with Greece having scored 50 points but only two made threes.

Back from the locker rooms, Giannis scored easily under the rim to reach 23 (52–41), but Israel hit three straight threes through Sorkin, Carrington and Avdija, closing in at 54–51. Toliopoulos broke the run, Giannis picked up his third foul but answered with a basket (58–53). Samontourov entered, brought energy and scored to restore a +7 lead (60–53). Israel trimmed it back with Sorkin and Ginat, but Sloukas’ and-one (63–58) and Samontourov’s triple (66–58) gave breathing room, before the quarter ended 67–59.

Despite 3/21 from three, Greece kept control, with Sloukas and Giannis scoring layups to reach the largest lead (+12, 71–59)! Ginat answered with a three (73–62), but the impressive Samontourov followed with a huge put-back (75–62).