Paris 2024: Canada beats Greece 86-79 in men’s basketball opener

RJ Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander topped the scoring with 23 and 21 points as Canada defeated Greece 86-79 in the men’s Olympic basketball game on Saturday at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Dillon Brooks and Jamal Murray — coming off the bench — added 13 and eight points, respectively, for Canada (1-0). Murray sealed the game with a pair of clutch free throws late in the fourth quarter before Barrett put an exclamation point on the victory with a slam dunk at the buzzer.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 points for Greece (0-1), the most points in the game. Greece qualified for the Olympic Games after winning the qualifying tournament in Piraeus, Greece.

It was Canada’s first appearance at the Games since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Canada went 2-1 in exhibition matches leading up to the Games, having qualified for the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup, where it won bronze.

The two teams entered Saturday’s match with the 14th-ranked Greeks holding a 2-1 lead over the 7th-ranked Canadians. Their last meeting came at an Olympic qualifying event in Victoria in 2021, a 97-91 Canadian victory.

Canada will play its next match against number 5 Australia on Tuesday.

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 pressure, hitting multiple stepback jump shots as Canada went on an 11-2 run to take a 22-9 lead.

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 tense first few minutes of the second quarter, Brooks restored Canada’s double-digit lead with a three-pointer with 5:45 remaining.

Greece regained a five-point lead, but a Barrett jumper from the baseline and two free throws from Gilgeous-Alexander gave Canada a 48-38 lead into halftime.

Canada got off to a strong start in the third quarter, with Brooks completing an 8-2 run to give the Canadians their largest lead, 56-40, after just 1:47.

After Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws to make it 60-50, Greece continued to reduce the deficit, cutting it to six points after three free throws from Papanikolaou, who was fouled by Andrew Nembhard.

With 43 seconds left on the clock, Murray extended Canada’s lead to 68-60 to close out the third period.

Thomas Walkup cut the score to 72-66 for Greece with 8:05 left on the clock with a three-pointer and Antetokounmpo made two free throws less than a minute later to reduce the deficit, much to the delight of the pro-Greek crowd.

However, a Lu Dort three-pointer gave Canada more of an advantage with 4:56 left, making it 75-68. Gilgeous-Alexander upped the ante, to the delight 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 left in the fourth quarter, but a costly foul by Antetokounmpo sent Murray to the free-throw line, where he made both free throws.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024