Paris 2024: Canada beats Greece 86-79 in men’s bball opener

RJ Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 23 and 21 points as Canada defeated Greece 86-79 in Olympic men’s basketball action on Saturday at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Dillon Brooks and Jamal Murray — who came off the bench — added 13 and eight points, respectively, for Canada (1-0). Murray iced the game with a pair of clutch free throws late in the fourth quarter, before Barrett put an exclamation mark on the win with a slam dunk at the buzzer.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a game-high 34 points for Greece (0-1), which qualified for the Olympics after winning the qualifying tournament in Piraeus, Greece. 

It was Canada’s first appearance at the Games since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Canada went 2-1 in exhibition play leading up to the Games, having qualified at the 2023 FIBA World Cup where it won bronze.

The two teams entered Saturday’s contest with the 14th-ranked Greeks holding a 2-1 edge over seventh-ranked Canadians. Their last meeting came at an Olympic qualifying event in Victoria in 2021, a 97-91 Canada win.

Canada will next play No. 5 Australia on Tuesday.

Barrett scored Canada’s first basket 32 seconds in with a layup and Canada jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander then turned up the heat, hitting multiple stepback jump-shots as Canada went on an 11-2 run to take a 22-9 edge.

However, back-to-back three-pointers from Dinos Mitoglou and Kostas Papanikolaou got Greece going before another Papanikolaou triple with 17 seconds left made it a two-point game. Murray closed the frame with a pair of free throws to give Canada a 26-22 lead.

After a close first few minutes of the second quarter, Brooks restored Canada’s double-digit advantage with a three-pointer with 5:45 remaining. 

Greece chipped at the lead again bringing it down to five, but a Barrett baseline jumper and a pair of free throws from Gilgeous-Alexander allowed Canada to go into halftime ahead 48-38.

Canada jumped out of the gates to start the third quarter with Brooks capping an 8-2 run to give the Canadians their largest lead at 56-40 just 1:47 in.

After a pair of free throws from Gilgeous-Alexander made it a 60-50 contest, Greece continued chipping at the deficit, trimming it to six after three free throws from Papanikolaou, who was fouled by Andrew Nembhard.

A Murray floater with 43 seconds left extended Canada’s lead to 68-60 to close the third.

Thomas Walkup cut it to 72-66 for Greece with 8:05 remaining with a three-pointer and Antetokounmpo made a pair of free throws to trim the deficit less than a minute later, to the delight of the pro-Greece crowd.

A Lu Dort three-pointer, however, gave Canada more cushion with 4:56 left, going up 75-68. Gilgeous-Alexander piled it on to the joy of some Canadian fans in the stands with a stepback three just over 30 seconds later.

Canada led by just three points, 82-79, with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but a costly foul from Antetokounmpo sent Murray to the foul line where he drained both his free throws.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024