Record 19,443 fans witness Greek Freak's first official home game
ATHENS (Greece) - A record crowd of 19,443 came out to the OAKA to witness Giannis Antetokounmpo's first official national team game in Greece and a 85-68 win over Belgium in the European Qualifiers.
ATHENS (Greece) - A record crowd of 19,443 came out to the OAKA to witness Giannis Antetokounmpo's first official national team game in Greece which ended in a 85-68 blowout of Belgium in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers.
Είμαστε εδώ και κυρίως είστε εδώ! Sold Out και 19.443 φωνές που στήριξαν και στηρίζουν την Εθνική Ομάδα! Ευχαριστούμε για όλα! #GREBEL #WinForHellas #FIBAWC #HellasBasketball 🏀🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/vH3IhKYaAG
— Hellenic Basketball (@HellenicBF) August 28, 2022
This attendance number in Athens topped the previous mark of 19,150 spectators who watched the Serbia-Greece game in Belgrade's Stark Arena last Thursday, which setting a new record for a World Cup European Qualifiers game.
The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player did not disappoint the Hellas faithful, collecting 26 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. The performance came three days after Antetokounmpo poured in 40 points in a 100-94 overtime loss against Serbia - setting a European Qualifiers single game scoring record.
Turning point: Greece decided the game already in the first quarter - leading 30-15 and never letting Belgium challenge the rest of the way.
Game hero: Giannis Antetokounmpo was the man but he was not anot alone in brushing aside Belgium as Tyler Dorsey tallied 22 points and Nick Calathes chipped in 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals.
Stats don't lie: Belgium shot a nightmare 35.0 percent from the field, including 26.7 percent on three-pointers. The guests also committed 23 turnovers, resulting in a Greece advantage of 29-9 in points off turnovers.
Bottom line: Greece bounced back from the loss in Serbia to improve to 4-2 in Group I. Belgium for their part fell to 3-3.
They said:
FIBA