Canada holds on to beat Greece in Olympic men’s basketball tournament opener
RJ Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 23 and 21 points as Canada defeated Greece 86-79 in Olympic men’s basketball action on Saturday at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Dillon Brooks and Jamal Murray — who came off the bench — added 13 and eight points, respectively, for Canada (1-0). Murray iced the game with a pair of clutch free throws late in the fourth quarter, before Barrett put an exclamation mark on the win with a slam dunk at the buzzer.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a game-high 34 points for Greece (0-1), which qualified for the Olympics after winning the qualifying tournament in Piraeus, Greece.
The two teams entered Saturday’s contest with the 14th-ranked Greeks holding a 2-1 edge over seventh-ranked Canadians. Their last meeting came at an Olympic qualifying event in Victoria in 2021, a 97-91 Canada win.
Canada will next play No. 5 Australia on Tuesday.
RJ Barrett led the Canadian squad with 23 points as they defeated Greece 86-79 Saturday in Lille, France.
Barrett scored Canada’s first basket 32 seconds in with a layup and Canada jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander then turned up the heat, hitting multiple stepback jump-shots as Canada went on an 11-2 run to take a 22-9 edge.
However, back-to-back three-pointers from Dinos Mitoglou and Kostas Papanikolaou got Greece going before another Papanikolaou triple with 17 seconds left made it a two-point game. Murray closed the frame with a pair of free throws to give Canada a 26-22 lead.
After a close first few minutes of the second quarter, Brooks restored Canada’s double-digit advantage with a three-pointer with 5:45 remaining.
Canada jumped out of the gates to start the third quarter with Brooks capping an 8-2 run to give the Canadians their largest lead at 56-40 just 1:47 in.
After a pair of free throws from Gilgeous-Alexander made it a 60-50 contest, Greece continued chipping at the deficit, trimming it to six after three free throws from Papanikolaou, who was fouled by Andrew Nembhard.
A Murray floater with 43 seconds left extended Canada’s lead to 68-60 to close the third.
Thomas Walkup cut it to 72-66 for Greece with 8:05 remaining with a three-pointer and Antetokounmpo made a pair of free throws to trim the deficit less than a minute later, to the delight of the pro-Greece crowd.
A Lu Dort three-pointer, however, gave Canada more cushion with 4:56 left, going up 75-68. Gilgeous-Alexander piled it on to the joy of some Canadian fans in the stands with a stepback three just over 30 seconds later.
Canada led by just three points, 82-79, with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but a costly foul from Antetokounmpo sent Murray to the foul line where he drained both his free throws.
France 78, Brazil 66
Victor Wembanyama marked his start of the Paris Games with all the dunks, defence and other eye-popping plays that have made the 20-year-old appointment viewing during his young basketball career.
More importantly for France, it added up to a victory for the host nation.
Wembanyama had 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks to help France overcome an early deficit and hold off Brazil 78-66 to open the group stage at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille.
France, which was showered with chants of “Le Bleus!”, joined Germany as winners in Group B on the opening day of the tournament in Lille.
Australia 92, Spain 80
Jock Landale had 20 points and nine rebounds as Australia beat Spain 92-80 Saturday to open the group stage of the men’s tournament.
Patty Mills added 19 points and Josh Giddey contributed 17 to lift Australia to the victory in Group A, which also includes Greece and Canada. Australia next meets Canada on Tuesday while Spain will face Greece.
Germany 97, Japan 77
Franz Wagner had 22 points and six rebounds, and Germany pulled away from Japan in the second half to secure a 97-77 win in Group B play.
Daniel Theis added 18 points and seven rebounds. Moritz Wagner added 15 points for the defending World Cup champions, who never trailed. Germany has Brazil next in group play on Tuesday. Japan takes on Olympics host France.
The Canadian men’s basketball team have their eyes set on gold, after ending a 24-year Olympic drought.
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