Antetokounmpo annihilates Israel and leads Greece to the Eurobasket quarterfinals

Greece has been the last team to qualify for the quarterfinals of EuroBasket 2025 after defeating Israel 84-79 in a match where Giannis Antetokounmpo's team dominated from start to finish against a resilient opponent that never really left the game but never really had genuine chances of beating a superior rival. 

Riga experienced an intense night with the conclusion of the EuroBasket round of 16. With this victory, the Greek team secured the final ticket to the quarterfinals, where they will face an old acquaintance, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

The game was under Greek control practically from the start, though without room for relaxation. They only managed to reach an 11-point lead momentarily in the second quarter, but Israel never gave up and closed in on the score again. The difference was reduced to just two points (60-58) towards the end of the third period, putting pressure on Vassilis Spanoulis' team.

That was when key players like Kostas Sloukas, Alexandros Samodurov, and Kostas Antetokounmpo stepped up, responding with a 7-1 run that brought calm to Greece. With that momentum, they started the final quarter with an eight-point lead, and another basket from Sloukas extended the lead to +10, a distance that proved decisive.

The standout player of the night was unquestionably Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Milwaukee Bucks player delivered an unstoppable performance with 37 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 18 for 23 from the field. With this display, he extended his streak to ten consecutive games surpassing 25 points in the competition, a historic record in the tournament only closely approached by the legendary Nikos Galis. Additionally, he joined names like Nikola Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, Luka Doncic, and Kristaps Porzingis as one of the few players to achieve a 30-10 double-double in 2025.

Israel tried every means, rotating defenders like Deni Avdija, Tomer Ginat, Itay Segev, or Roman Sorkin, but none could find a way to stop the Greek star. Not even the zone defenses managed to diminish his impact, as Giannis made his first ten two-point attempts without a miss. Avdija bowed out with 22 points, but it wasn't enough to avoid elimination.

Greece thus reaches the quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive edition and garners nine appearances among the top eight in the last ten editions. Israel, on the other hand, leaves with the feeling of having given their all but without being able to improve on their historic seventh place achieved in 2003.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Antetokounmpo aniquila a Israel y mete a Grecia en cuartos del Eurobasket