Reigning world champion Germany
ousted Greece in a wild comeback to win 76-63 and advance to their
first-ever Olympics semifinals at the Bercy Arena in Paris,
France.
After falling behind early in
the 1st quarter, Germany used their familiarity and chemistry with
each other to chip back into the lead. Led by FIBA MVP Dennis
Schroder and rising NBA star Franz Wagner, the Germans closed the
gap by halftime and eventually took the lead in the 3rd quarter to
take control until the end of the game.
Wagner had 18 points to lead
Germany while Schroder added 13 as they now await the other semi
final pairing in France vs Canada for their opponent in the semis.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had yet another brilliant performance for the
Greeks by having 22 points on 9/14 shooting, but it was not enough
against the world champs and their vaunted team chemistry that was
built for months and years.
Greece leaned on their
three-point shooting early to stifle Germany, as the latter could
not hit their shots early on, leading to the early
deficit.
However, Germany locked in on
defense from the second quarter and beyond which allowed them to
leak out for easy baskets to get their rhythm and in turn make
their shots on offense. This allowed Germany to put on the run and
never looked back from that point on.
