ATHENS (Greece) -  A record crowd of 19,443 came out to the OAKA  to witness Giannis Antetokounmpo's first official national team game in Greece which ended in a 85-68 blowout of Belgium in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers.

This attendance number in Athens topped the previous mark of 19,150 spectators who watched the Serbia-Greece game in Belgrade's Stark Arena last Thursday, which setting a new record for a World Cup European Qualifiers game.

The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player did not disappoint the Hellas faithful, collecting 26 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. The performance came three days after Antetokounmpo poured in 40 points in a 100-94 overtime loss against Serbia - setting a European Qualifiers single game scoring record.

Turning point: Greece decided the game already in the first quarter - leading 30-15 and never letting Belgium challenge the rest of the way. 

Game hero: Giannis Antetokounmpo was the man but he was not anot alone in brushing aside Belgium as Tyler Dorsey tallied 22 points and Nick Calathes chipped in 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals.

Stats don't lie: Belgium shot a nightmare 35.0 percent from the field, including 26.7 percent on three-pointers. The guests also committed 23 turnovers, resulting in a Greece advantage of 29-9 in points off turnovers. 

Bottom line: Greece bounced back from the loss in Serbia to improve to 4-2 in Group I. Belgium for their part fell to 3-3.

They said:

 
FIBA