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.
After Leandro Barbosa and Varejao made a fantastic pick-and-roll play and Brazil led by three points at 79-76, Greece squandered its last chance to force an overtime as guard Nick Calathes only made two of his three free throws in the dying seconds.
Greece led the first half but was overtaken in the third quarter in which Brazil won by 26-13 and led for good till the end of the game.
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 went back strong on court to try to change proceedings, only to find his opponents dancing and firing on the court with different scoring weapons.
"I played with Barbosa in the Golden State Warriors and we know each other very well. He has good vision and I know he can always find me. So that play was very natural," Varejao said.
"We knew we had a chance and we kept fighting. We prepared very well for the World Cup. We won the game because we put a lot of work in it," he added.
The result sees Brazil secure a place in the last 16, while Greece can still qualify if it beats New Zealand days later, who defeated Montenegro earlier in the day.
