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Berlin: Giannis Antetokounmpo was expelled, not long after Greece’s hopes of bringing home the European champions were dashed.
Meanwhile, Germany are making the most of their home-field advantage.
Dennis Schroeder had 26 points and Daniel Theis had 13 points and 16 rebounds as hosts Germany advanced to the EuroBasket semifinals with a 107-96 victory over Greece on Tuesday.
Antetokounmpo put up a monster game for Greece in 30 minutes — 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. But he also suffered two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, the last of which resulted in his ejection with 4:56 remaining.
Greece was 14 points behind when he committed his second such foul, while Germany remained in full control for the remainder of the game.
Germany now have a chance to claim their second medal in their last 13 EuroBasket. The Germans were European champions in 1993 and runners-up in 2005; making sure they are no worse than fourth now, this race will mark their best EuroBasket finish since that silver medal presentation.
“I think it’s incredible for German basketball, the way this team, the way these players have performed so far in their hometown,” Germany coach Gordy Herbert said. “I think the way they play, the way we play, people can relate to. They see an identity.”
Greece and Serbia are the only two teams to reach the EuroBasket group stage with an undefeated record, both leading 5-0 and led by a pair of two-time NBA MVPs – Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Serbia’s Nikolai S. Jokic leads.
Then came the knockout stage, where records no longer mattered. Serbia and Jokic were eliminated by Italy in the round of 16; Antetokounmpo and Greece are now gone too.
“We really enjoyed the journey,” said Greek coach Dimitrios Itudis. “We really enjoyed the journey. I think we made a lot of people proud of what this team did. We wanted to go more, but it didn’t happen this time.”
Giannoulis Larentzakis scored 18 points on just five attempts for Greece; he went 5-for-5 from the field, 4-for-6 from the three-point range and 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Tyler Dorsey added 13 points for Greece.
Franz Wagner and Andreas Obst had 19 points each as Germany faced Spain in Friday’s semi-final.
“It’s a real physical game,” Wagner said. “A lot of points. We found our rhythm early on and I think we did a better job defending them collectively in the second half.”
Spain 100 Finland 90
Most of the Spanish national team’s names have changed in the last year, and the roster heading to EuroBasket is very different from the roster for the Tokyo Olympics.
However, expectations remain the same.
Willy Hernangomez had 27 points, Juanjo Hernangomez had 15, and Spain — only three players to get significant minutes at the Tokyo Olympics last summer — had their second game on Tuesday. A 15-point gap in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals and overtake Finland.
Trailing 50-35 in the second half, Spain beat Finland 65-40 in the final 21 minutes of the game.
“Once again we showed cohesion, resilience, generosity and we shared the ball well,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. “At the end of the day, that’s what you can ask of a team that’s so inexperienced and so new in this kind of engagement.”
Spain are in their 11th consecutive EuroBasket semi-final and will face Germany on Friday for a place in the final.
Dario Brizuela had 14 points, Rudy Fernandez had 11 and Lorenzo Brown had 10.
“It was an uphill battle,” said Juancho’s older brother, Willy Hernangomez. “It was an uphill battle for us. … We had a really bad first half. We didn’t start the game with the right mindset. Then at half-time, (we said) we had to be us, We have to be us.”
Spain opened the third quarter with a 17-5 scoreline that not only set the tone for its comeback.
Lauri Markkanen had 28 points and 11 rebounds for Finland, while Mikael Jantunen had 13, Alexander Madsen had 13 and Sasu Salin had 11.
Finland is looking to participate in the EuroBasket semi-finals for the first time.
“Well, you see why Spain is always so tough,” said Finland’s Sean Huff. “They never give up. We gave it a good chance.”
Wednesday’s schedule
Two other quarter-finals are on the way: France against Italy and defending champions Slovenia against Poland.
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