Shai saves the day for Canada against resilient Greece

LILLE (France) – After 24 years, Canada made it back to the Olympics, and their biggest stars made sure to make the comeback memorable. They held off Greece 86-79, closing out the first day of action at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.

It required a monster effort to slow Giannis Antetokounmpo down. Even though he had 34 points, his big game was not enough for Greece to pick up a win.

Turning point

Canada were the better team in the first half, and when they opened up a 16-point lead early in the second half, it seemed like they were on cruise control. But the Olympics are tough for a reason.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and his teammates refused to back down, crawling back to a single digit deficit before the start of the fourth, and then taking full advantage of Canada’s foul trouble – Luguentz Dort, Dwight Powell and Dillon Brooks all fouled out before the end of the game.

With a runaway Antetokounmpo dunk, the gap was down to just two points in the final minute, but Canada turned to their MVP candidate.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander escaped a double team, drove to the right and hit a runner over Giannis to make 82-78 with 42.8 left on the game clock.

Coach Vassilis Spanoulis drew up a play for his superstar, Canada fouled him on his way to the rim, and he made only one-of-two to cut it to -3.

Greece sent Jamal Murray to the line with 15.2 seconds remaining, and the 2023 NBA champ remained ice cold, knocking down both shots to put the game out of Greece’s reach.

Game heroes

In 2000, Rowan Barrett was part of the last Canadian team at the Olympics, closing his account with 8 points and 8 rebounds in a Quarter-Finals defeat against France.

Fast forward 24 years, and his son RJ was the first person to score for Canada, continuing the Olympic legacy of the family. He was Canada’s most consistent player throughout the game, finishing with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

He had a lot of help from his teammates, too. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Dillon Brooks collected 14 points before fouling out with three minutes to play.

Stats don’t lie

In a closely contested game, it’s important to make your shots from the charity stripe. Greece had eight missed free throws, compared to four by Canada, just enough to give the team in red and white a bit of an edge in the closing seconds.

Bottom line

Giannis Antetokounmpo almost set a new Greek scoring record in his very first game at the Olympics, scoring 34 points, just two shy of Nikos Eikonomou’s 36 from 1996. He was 11-of-17 from the field and 12-of-15 from the line, with 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

But he will need more help from his teammates, as Kostas Papanikolaou (17pts) was the only other player in double digits.

As for Canada, they will need to learn to balance their aggression through the entire team, because their defense was nowhere near as tough with Dort and Brooks compared to without them. But to learn with a win is always a great experience, their first Olympic win in 24 years!

You may also want to read this on Giannis:

Giannis gave it his all with a magnificent 34-point effort