MADRID (AP) — When the game was on the line, Giannis Antetokounmpo simply assumed control.
He did it on both ends of the floor, as usual.
Friday's opening Group C game for both teams at the EuroBasket competition featured 27 points from Antetokounmpo and 11 rebounds from Tyler Dorsey. Greece defeated Croatia 89-85.
Damir Mulaomerovic, the Croatian coach, remarked, "Giannis, he did his job."
That's what he accomplished, particularly in the closing seconds.
Ivica Zubac attempted to score from close range for Croatia with 57 seconds left on the clock as they trailed 84-82. After blocking that shot, Antetokounmpo scored on the next Greece possession to increase his team's advantage to four.
With 10 seconds left, Jaleen Smith attempted a 3-pointer to pull Croatia within one, but Antetokounmpo blocked that shot. With 4.9 seconds left, he then converted a three-point play to seal the victory.
Croatia received 19 points from Bojan Bogdanovic, 18 from Krunoslav Simon, 11 from Zubac, and ten from Mario Hezonja, in addition to Smith's 23 points. Croatia scored the opening seven points of the game before they were outscored 40-14 and behind by 19 points before attempting a comeback.
Dario Saric, who hasn't participated in an NBA game since suffering a right knee injury while playing for Phoenix in Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals, represented Croatia but failed to make any of his six-shot attempts.
GROUP C: GREAT BRITAIN 61, UKRAINE 90
Svi Ukraine dominated in its EuroBasket debut behind 17 points from Mykhailiuk and 13 points from Alex Len.
For Ukraine, which forced 20 turnovers and converted them into 24 points, Illya Sydorov and Bogdan Bliznyuk each scored ten points. Against Great Britain's 33%, Ukraine shot 45%.
For Great Britain, Myles Hesson and Gabriel Olaseni each scored 10, and Luke Nelson scored 16.
Israel won its opening game in Prague after returning from an early 14-point hole with Deni Avdija's 23 points and 15 rebounds.
Nimrod Levi and Guy Pnini scored 10 points for Israel, with ten assists from Tamir Blatt and Tomer Ginat's 13 points.
For Finland, Lauri Markkanen had 33 points and 12 rebounds.
Alexander Madsen and 11 scored thirteen points by Edon Maxhuni.
Over the final 18 1/2 minutes of play, neither team had a lead larger than six points.
Poland dominated the host Czechs for most of the game thanks to the 26 points from Mateusz Ponitka and the 23 points from A.J. Slaughter.
For Poland, Michal Sokolowski finished with 12 points, Aleksander Balcerowski had 14 points, and Michal Michalak had 10.
With 17 points, Jan Vesely led the Czech Republic, followed by Jaromir Bohacik with 13 and Patrick Auda with 10.
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