THESSALONIKI (Greece) - Short-handed Greece started the final preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics with a thrilling comeback 67-65 victory over Puerto Rico in a battle of nations who won were coming off victories in their FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The Greeks prevailed in the OQT Greece but they were playing without sick star Giannis Antetokounmpo as well as Nick Calathes, Giannis Larentzakis and Kostas Antetokounmpo. Puerto Rico came to Europe after winning the OQT Puerto Rico earlier this month.
The story of the game
Puerto Rico led for the first 39:28 minutes of the game - by as many as 12 points midway through the second quarter and the advantage was 58-48 after three quarters. The home side scored the first eight points of the final frame and then watched Puerto Rico pull away 65-59 with under 4 minutes to play.
The deficit was down to 65-64 and after two Puerto Rico failed possessions, Kostas Papanikolaou put Greece up 66-65 with a driving layup with 32 seconds to go. Jose Alvardo missed a floater with 3 seconds to go and Greece had the comeback win.
The player of the game
Dinos Mitoglou led Greece with 18 points to go with 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. But he scored eight of those points in the final 10 minutes, including a layup to trim the gap to 65-64.
The stats of the game
Greece dominated on the glass with a 41-27 rebound advantage, including 9-2 on offensive rebounds. Puerto Rico connected on just 9 of 34 three-pointers (26.5 percent) and did not make a free throw in the game, missing their only two attempts.
Georgios Papagiannis collected 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks and Papanikolaou chipped in 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Isaiah Pineiro tallied 12 points to pace four Puerto Rico players in double figures.
The takeaways from the game
Greece have to be thrilled about coming back against a feisty and fighting team like Puerto Rico - especially missing the Antetokounmpos, Calathes and Larentzakis.
Greece will have one more game before the Olympics as they have set up a big-time showdown with Serbia on July 22 in Belgrade. Greece will start their Olympics Group A campaign against Canada on July 27 and then have games against Spain and Australia.
Puerto Rico go back to the drawing board and will have to find ways to rebound the ball better. They also will look to get to the free throw line more.
Puerto Rico still have three more friendly games scheduled, facing Australia on July 19 at the Co'Met Arena in Orleans, France and then Canada two days later in the same venue. The Americas team will also take on Spain on July 23 at the Wizink Center in Madrid. Puerto Rico are in Group C with matchups against South Sudan, Serbia and United States.
FIBA