Israel’s run at EuroBasket ended Sunday night with an 84-79 loss to Greece in the round of 16, extending a three-decade drought against the Greeks.
Israel has not beaten Greece in 32 years, and the defeat stretched its losing streak in the matchup to 13 straight games. Greece advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face Lithuania.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo proved unstoppable, scoring 37 points with 10 rebounds to lead Greece. He opened the game with 13 points in the first quarter despite Israeli forward Itay Segev starting specifically to defend him. Veteran guard Kostas Sloukas added 11 points and guided Greece through key stretches with his experience.
Israel fought hard, with Tomer Ginat, Roman Sorkin and NBA forward Deni Avdija keeping the team close in the first half, which ended with Greece ahead by nine. In the second half, Israel cut the deficit to two, but Sloukas helped Greece pull away again. A late steal and basket by Yam Madar trimmed the margin to six with 90 seconds left, but Israel missed a three-pointer that could have closed the gap further.
Despite shooting just 16% from beyond the arc and getting little production from Tyler Dorsey, who had only four points after hitting six threes against Spain, Greece dominated the offensive glass with 18 rebounds — a key factor along with Antetokounmpo’s dominance.
Avdija led Israel with 22 points. Ginat scored 15 and Sorkin added 14. Madar had 10 points, while Kadin Carrington finished with nine. For Greece, in addition to Antetokounmpo and Sloukas, Kostas Papanikolaou had eight and Alexandros Samodurov scored seven.
Israel can take pride in reaching the knockout round for the first time since 2015, highlighted by a surprise win over France in group play. But the team ultimately fell short against superstar opponents — Luka Dončić and Slovenia in the group stage, and Antetokounmpo and Greece in the last 16.