LIMASSOL (Cyprus) - No sniper came to the rescue for Italy as Giannis Antetokounmpo was masterful in carrying Greece to a hard-fought 75-66 victory to tip off their FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
Italian head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco joked in the pre-tournament press conference about knowing of a friend when asked how he planned on stopping Antetokounmpo. A packed Spyros Kyprianou Arena with 7,000 mostly Greece fans saw the NBA superstar dominate with 31 points.
Turning Point
Italy had been fighting to stay within touching distance and were down just 45-41 halfway through the third quarter. Greece continued their strong defense and and executed better on offense with an 11-3 spurt to lead 56-44.
Italy temporarily trimmed the gap to six points on Simone Fontecchio's first points with 4 minutes to play. And it was 71-66 with 49 seconds to go but Antetokounmpo threw down a dunk with 31 seconds to seal the deal.
TCL Player of the Game
There was no doubt who the leader for Greece would be and Giannis Antetokounmpo did not disappoint. The former NBA MVP and champion had his way with the Italian defense in scoring 31 points. But Antetokounmpo also grabbed 7 rebounds while dishing out 2 assists and swiping 1 steal.
Stats Don't Lie
Greece shot 59 percent on two-pointers and 39 percent from long range while holding Italy to just 36 percent from the field including 26 percent from long range. Greece's defense also frustated Italy's NBA star Simone Fontecchio, who was held to just 4 points in 34 minutes, making just 1 of his 11 shots.
Bottom Line
Greece and Italy have squared off 17 times in all-time FIBA history with Greece winning for the eighth time. But the two basketball powers met for just the third time since 2003.
Greece can expect another packed house in their second game as they face off against hosts and neighbors Cyprus, who lost their first game. Italy meanwhile face another tough test with a showdown against Georgia, who started their campaign with an upset over reigning champions Spain.
They Said
"I think we had a good game defensively. Offensively we had some good moments and some not-so-good moments. We need to have a little more patience in our offense and more easy points on fast breaks. Our team can run, our team can shoot, we need to find more ways to be succcessful in offensive transition." - Vassilis Spanoulis, Greece
"Italy is a great team with depth at both bigs and guards. We're very happy with the winning margin and we're very happy that we responded when they came back. We have to be happy today and keep building." - Dinos Mitoglou
"I think overall we did a very good job. We had some moments in the second quarter - some stretches where we were not executing our plan. But we said before we came here that we want to keep evolving and getting better during the tournament." - Kostas Papanikolaou, Greece
"It's just good to get a win under our belt. The defensive end won us that game tonight. We focused on the smallest details of all the players and it led us to the victory." - Tyler Dorsey, Greece
"We played solid. I am happy with the behavior of my players. They were really focused on the game. We prepared something - yesterday of course I was joking with the sniper - and they really did on the court what we wanted to do. We needed to play a little bit better offensively. We didn't shoot well. But we were competitive tonight." - Gianmarco Pozzecco, Italy
"It was a very good game, a physical game. I thought we played a better first half than second half. We created some open shots that we missed in the first half, and we didn't create the same shots in the second half. We have to keep our intensity and energy up for 40 minutes to play against these kinds of teams." - Danilo Gallinari, Italy
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA