Giannis Antetokounmpo overcomes Italy with Gregg Popovich in attendance / News - Basketnews.com

Giannis Antetokounmpo registered a double-double of 25 points & 11 rebounds and became the only Greek NT player ever to reach 5 double-doubles for his career.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Greece (2-0) played its 200th EuroBasket game and marked the historic achievement with a hard-fought 85-81 (23-17, 24-23, 24-17, 14-24) victory over Italy (1-1) at the packed Mediolanum Forum in Milan.

The last time Greece managed to beat Italy in EuroBasket was back in 2001 (Turkey), 83-82.

Many basketball greats spectated the match in the stands with Gregg Popovich, Luis Scola, Ettore Messina, Dino Meneghin, and Marco Belinelli among others.

Powered by Tyler Dorsey's triples and Giannis' buckets, Greece started running from their opponents in the second quarter (37-25). However, Italy played a better stretch before halftime and both national teams were separated by 7 points, going into the break (47-40).

Nevertheless, Greece spurted 7-0 in the mid-third period and created a 14-point advantage (59-45) that eventually paved the way for victory.

Even though Simone Fontecchio-led Italy reduced their deficit to only 3 points (81-84) with 35 seconds to play in the game, Greece managed to get a couple of crucial stops on the defensive end, as Fontecchio and Tonut's triples were off the mark.

Giannis Antetokounmpo registered a double-double and became the only Greek NT player ever to reach 5 for his career. Before this game, he was tied at 4 double-doubles with retired center Ioannis Bourousis.

The Greek Freak finished the game with 25 points (7/10 2PT, 1/5 3PT, 8/9 FT), 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers, 3 steals, 1 block, and 31 EFF.

Greece's Georgios Papagiannis appeared on the court tonight, debuting with the Greek NT jersey during this EuroBasket cycle. Meanwhile, Kostas Antetokounmpo missed the duel due to injury.

Greece: Giannis Antetokounmpo 25 (11 REB), Tyler Dorsey 23, Dimitrios Agravanis 13.

Italy: Simone Fontecchio 26 (5 AST), Achille Polonara 14 (10 REB), Stefano Tonut 13 (5 REB).

Giannis' performance:

Game highlights:

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