Greece’s men’s national basketball team is enjoying the solitude of being at the top of the B qualifying group for the 2027 World Cup.
The Greek team defeated Portugal 76-68 in the Matosinhos district of Porto and made it “two for two”, forcing the hosts to their first defeat.
With the defence making the difference, keeping Portugal under 20 points in each quarter, good shooting percentages and dominating the rebounds, the “blue and white” got what they wanted tonight without having to step on the gas.
Giannoulis Larentzakis led the Greek team’s offence again tonight with 15 points and 4/7 three-pointers, while Alexandros Samodurov (12 points), Nazr Mitrou-Long (11 points), and Kostas Papanikolaou (10 points) also scored in double figures. Travade Williams stood out from the Portuguese team, with 15 points.
Kostas Antetokounmpo may have opened the scoring in the match, but it was Portugal that turned the rest into a monologue, when they went on a 13–0 run (13–4 at 4′).
The “blue and white,” however, after first finding a rhythm in the attack through its excellent defence, reacted and with a 13-0 run of its own took the lead (13–17, 8′).
With a three-pointer by Toliopoulos at the end of the first period and another well-aimed three-point shot by Charalambopoulos at the beginning of the second, the “blue and white” team took a 10-point lead (17–27).
The representative team increased the lead to 12 (21–33, 13′), after a nice ball movement that resulted in a three-pointer by Larentzakis.
The home team, however, took advantage of the Greek team’s mistakes, scored 15–4 points and closed the first half at -1 (36–37).
In the third quarter, the Portuguese continued to press and stay close (47–49, 28′). Vasilis Spanoulis’ team found solutions with Papanikolaou, Larentzakis and Charalambopoulos, building a lead again (47–56, 29′), before Lisboa reduced it to 49–56 at the end of the period.
Amarante and Voitso made it 54–56, but Greece responded with two consecutive three-pointers from Flionis and Larentzakis (54–63, 32′).
Portugal came close again (59–62), but Samodurov (goal-foul) and Mitrou-Long (three-pointer and two shots) increased the difference to 7 (63–70, 37′) and sealed the “double”.
Quarters: 17-24, 36-37, 49-56, 68-76
PORTUGAL (Gomes): Brito 10, Voicó 8 (2), Monteiro, Williams 15 (2), Amarante 7 (1), Delgado 6, Ventura 6, Relvao 2, Da Silva, Lisboa 12 (2), S. Sa 2.
GREECE (Spanoulis): Larentzakis 15 (4), Toliopoulos 7 (2), Flionis 3 (1), P. Kalaitzakis 3 (1), Charalambopoulos 5 (1), Papanikolaou 10 (1), Samontourov 12 (2), N. Mitrou-Long 11 (1), Karagiannidis 6, K. Antetokounmpo 6, Bazinas.
