Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn't exactly broken out of his EuroBasket shell, but Tuesday's effort against Georgia suggests he's getting back on track.
After failing to crack double-digit scoring in either of Greece's weekend wins, the Greek Freak looked a bit more comfortable on Tuesday, knocking down a pair of threes and scoring 10 of his 12 points in the first half as Greece rolled to a 50-22 intermission lead and held on for a 79-68 win (box score).
While Georgia came back to make a game of it, the Greeks were never seriously challenged as Giannis finished with a solid 12 points (5/9 fg, 2/4 threes), four rebounds, and two blocks in a team-high 28 minutes. After missing all of his jumpers over the weekend, Giannis started off more promisingly this time around with an open three on Greece's first possession and later buried another with just a couple seconds left in the first half. Complete highlights:
Giannis Antetokounmpo hit a pair of threes (huzzah!) and scored 12 points in Greece's win over Georgia today. #Hellas #Eurobasket2015
Posted by BrewHoop.com on Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Otherwise there wasn't a huge difference in Giannis' game or role, as he was once again mostly playing off the ball-dominating tendencies of Greece's guards. Still, he did connect with Nick Calathes twice -- the second a pretty backdoor alley-oop -- and made the most of his only iso opportunity by driving past former teammate Zaza Pachulia for a scooping lefty lay-in. Bucks fans would obviously love to see Giannis in a more featured role, but watching him regain the perimeter shooting touch he's flashed over the past month of exhibitions is a nice consolation prize -- and hopefully a sign of things to come moving forward.
The win keeps Greece atop Group C with a perfect 3-0 record, with their next game coming Wednesday morning against Slovenia at 8 am CT (ESPN3.com and WatchESPN). As always, watch our Vine, Twitter and Facebook pages for updates and video highlights as they happen.
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