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Giannis Antetokounmpo is now an Olympian.
Antetokounmpo is heading to the Olympics for the primary time, after he scored 23 factors and Greece held off Croatia 80-69 on Sunday in one of many 4 males’s basketball qualifying match finals being held to find out the ultimate spots within the 12-team discipline for the Paris Video games.
“The perfect athletes on this planet compete within the Olympic Video games,” Antetokounmpo mentioned. “We’ve got nothing to lose. … I actually imagine we’ve an unimaginable group and we are able to accomplish one thing particular.”
Georgios Papagiannis scored 19 factors for Greece, which bought 14 from Nick Calathes and earned an Olympic berth for the primary time since 2008.
“It’s very good to qualify as a result of that’s step one,” Papagiannis mentioned. “On the Olympics, we’re trying to do one thing actually good there.”
Ivica Zubac had 19 factors and 13 rebounds for Croatia, which bought 15 factors apiece from Mateo Dreznjak and Mario Hezonja and 14 from Dario Saric.
Greece might be positioned in Group A for the Paris Video games, with its opening-stage video games in opposition to Australia, Canada and Spain — which additionally certified on Sunday by beating the Bahamas.
Already having certified for the Paris discipline: the four-time defending gold medalist U.S., France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan, Canada and Australia. France certified because the host nation; the opposite seven groups on that record certified primarily based on their finishes on the World Cup final summer time.
And on Sunday, Brazil, Greece, Spain and Puerto Rico grabbed the final spots after prevailing in winner-take-all qualifiers that began final week.
Puerto Rico 79, Lithuania 68
For the primary time since 2004, Puerto Rico is headed to the Olympics.
At San Juan, the hosts bought 23 factors from Jose Alvarado, 18 factors from Tremont Waters and topped Lithuania 79-68 to assert the twelfth and last spot within the discipline for the Paris Video games.
Puerto Rico might be slotted into group play in France with Serbia, South Sudan and the U.S.
Rokas Jokubaitis scored 16 factors and Domantas Sabonis scored 10 for Lithuania.
Spain 86, Bahamas 78
Rudy Fernandez goes to the Olympics for the sixth time, a primary for any males’s basketball participant. And Spain needed to dig deep to get him there.
Spain earned its seventh consecutive Olympic berth after holding off the Bahamas 86-78 at Valencia, Spain.
Lorenzo Brown had 18 factors for Spain, which bought 14 from Willy Hernangomez, 12 from Santiago Aldama and 10 from Usman Garuba.
Buddy Hield led the Bahamas with 19 factors. Deandre Ayton scored 17, Eric Gordon had 15 and Valdez Edgecombe Jr. completed with 12.
Like Greece, Spain is in Group A for the opening stage of video games in Paris alongside Australia and Canada.
Brazil 94, Latvia 69
At Riga, Latvia, Brazil used a 19-0 run over the ultimate 3:21 of the primary quarter to set the tone in what turned a surprisingly straightforward 94-69 victory over Latvia.
Bruno Caboclo led Brazil with 21 factors and Leo Meindl added 20. Caboclo made a 65-foot 3-pointer to finish the primary quarter — one during which Brazil was 8 for 8 from past the arc to take a 34-11 lead and stun the house crowd.
“My dad was a basketball participant and his dream was to play within the Olympic Video games,” Meindl mentioned. “I’m making this for me, for him and for my household. I’m feeling on the clouds.”
Rihards Lomazs scored 15 for Latvia, which bought 14 factors apiece from Rolands Smits and Arturs Zagars.
“It simply appeared prefer it was going their method from the primary quarter,” Zagars mentioned.
Brazil might be positioned in Group B for the Olympics, with video games in opposition to France (July 27), Germany (July 30) and Japan (Aug. 2) within the opening stage.
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AP Summer time Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
