Greek Freak Unleashed: Giannis erupts in summer debut

ATHENS (Greece) – Giannis Antetokounmpo played his first summer preparation game ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2025 at the Acropolis Tournament where Greece defeated Latvia 104-86 in Athens.

Giannis played a monster first half, starting off with seven consecutive points as Greece built up a 13-point lead in the first quarter. A hot hand from beyond the three-point line and Antetokounmpo’s 20 points and 8 rebounds in just 10 minutes of play gave Hellas a 61-45 lead at the half with Latvia having no answer for that kind of offense.

Latvia cut the deficit back to 10 in the third quarter, but never pulled closer than that with Greece controlling things until the end for a strong start at this tournament.

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Top performers: Giannis Antetokounmpo spent only 15 minutes on the floor, but dominated nevertheless with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting, adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Giannoulis Larentzakis drained four three-points shots on his way to 14 points.

Rihards Lomazs was the only player in double digits with 14 points for Latvia.

Up next: Greece will host Italy on Friday, while Latvia will clash with that very same opponent a day earlier at tournament.

Other Games

Lithuania 81-84 Türkiye

Lithuania nearly pulled off a big comeback in Vilnius, but Türkiye prevailed on the road and grabbed an 84-81 win, giving the Baltic side the first defeat of the summer..

Led by the dynamic duo of Alperen Sengun and Cedi Osman, Türkiye played a strong second quarter and took the lead into the double digits. Lithuania managed to turn the game around, knocking down two big three-pointers for an 81-76 lead, but remained scoreless in the final two minutes as Sehmus Hazer scored the final four points to secure the win.

Sengun shone with 25 points and 5 rebounds as Türkiye improved to a 2-2 summer record. Osman added 13 and a final stretch hero Hazer tallied 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting for two. Rokas Jokubaitis put up 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists for Lithuania with Deividas Sirvydis scoring 13 with 6 dimes to add.

Sweden 87-88 Estonia

Estonia recorded their third win in a row with an 88-87 success over Sweden in a real nail-biter that saw the visiting team pulling ahead in the second quarter, but Sweden attempting a big comeback at the final stretch of the game in Stockholm.

Sweden nearly succeeded after grabbing a lead in the final 60 seconds but Artur Konontsuk nailed down a game-winning three-pointer to seal the deal. Kristian Kullamae led the show with 16 points and 8 rebounds as the game hero Konontsuk added 14 points. Sweden fell to 1-4 in the preparation games, even with Melwin Pantzar scoring 19 points.

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