LILLE (France) - Giannis Antetokounmpo has experienced quite a magical first Olympics - serving as flag bearer for Greece at the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony; hearing MVP chants from a packed crowd at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille; and nearly setting a Greek Olympic scoring record in his first game.
The only thing missing was the victory. Not a detail.
Antetokounmpo almost got that as well as Greece nearly erased a 16-point deficit, getting within two points with 64 seconds left. But in the end, it wasn't enough. Canada had more weapons in an 86-79 win.
The NBA superstar was more than a handful for Canada, pouring in 34 points in the teams' opening game in Group A. The two-time NBA MVP and 2021 NBA champion converted 11 of 17 shots to go with 12 of 15 free throws and also picked up 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Antetokounmpo did a good job all game driving to the basket and drawing fouls on many of Canada's top defenders including Luguentz Dort and Dillon Brooks.
"The game plan didn't work, as he scored 34 points", said coach Fernandez for Canada. "The coach did a bad job, the game plan didn't work (laughs). And it doesn't matter now because I've played against him in the NBA, sometimes we won, sometimes we lost, obviously the court is much bigger in the NBA. He's done an amazing job, he made his free throws, so whoever plays him next, they're gonna look at this game and they are gonna be asking themselves 'how do we stop him?"
The 34 points rank third all-time for a Greek player at the Olympics behind Nikos Oikonomou's 36 against Brazil in 1996 and Giorgos Sigalas picking up 35 points in a later game against Brazil at Atlanta 1996 as well.
MVP! MVP! - 27 000 fans in Lille
The "MVP, MVP MVP" chants really started picking up in the early moments of the fourth quarter. The fans in Lille were cheering on the Greeks as the Europeans ate into the Canada lead and trimmed it to four points. A Giannis dunk made it 82-80 and it looked like Hellas would pull out the comeback.
Giannis showed improvement in FIBA basketball. He was patient, smart, and chose the right moments to unleash his aggressiveness towards the basket. He was too much to handle for a great Canadian defense.
But as strong as Antetokounmpo was, Greece's only other player in double figures was Kostas Papanikolaou with 17 points, followed by Vasilis Toliopoulos' 9 points. Greece's other three starters Thomas Walkup, Nick Calathes and Georgios Papagiannis combined for just 11 points.
Canada were paced by RJ Barrett's 23 points with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 21 points, Brooks tallying 14 points and Dort chipping in 8 points. It was just a matter of Canada having more offense than the Greeks.
Guarding Giannis is not an easy task - RJ Barrett
"That's why you have the word team, it's not one guy, explained RJ Barrett. "All of us, all together, everybody's got their part to do. Guarding Giannis is not an easy task, Dillon, Lu, Dwight tried their best, you put pressure on him all game long."
While the loss is a disappointment, everything is still up in the air for Greece in Group A, which also includes Australia, who opened the Paris Olympics with a win over Spain.
Antetokounmpo, who was receiving treatment on his right knee at the end of the third quarter, lived up to his billing as a major superstar on the Olympics stage. But the Milwaukee Bucks leader will need more help if he wants to collect victories as well.
FIBA