NANJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo met his toughest challenge at the 2019 FIBA World Cup here on Tuesday, as his Greece side was edged 79-78 by Brazil in Group F.
Antetokounmpo was trapped into foul trouble and only tallied 13 points. Anderson Varejao of Brazil scored a match-leading 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Antetokounmpo attacked the rim with a thunderous dunk that lit up the packed stadium. But Brazil showed tenacity with a strong defense, especially against him, forcing the Milwaukee Bucks star uncomfortable and out of the paint area.
Georgios Printezis of Greece made two three-point jump shots to maintain a five-point lead, and the rest of the side kept scoring and piling on the pressure, putting on a 21-4 burst to dominate the first half.
The Brazilians fought back, roaring out of the gate and opening the second half on a 15-4 run. NBA veteran Varejao proved himself still powerful and kept attacking the rim, and with his teammate Alex Garcia shooting a three-pointer, they prevailed 45-44 and reversed the trend.
Antetokounmpo came back on court to try to change proceedings, only to find his opponents dancing and firing on the court with different scoring weapons.
In the final few minutes, Lendrianho Barbosa and Varejao made a fantastic pick-and-roll play to set the tone for the whole match.
The result sees Brazil secure a place in the last 16, while Greece can still qualify if they beat New Zealand, who defeated Montenegro earlier in the day.
