With NBA superstars on both sides, Canada and Greece square off in a highly-anticipated matchup to begin group play in men’s basketball on Saturday.
The Canadians, who named former Gonzaga standout Kelly Olynyk as the team’s co-captain for the Olympics, are expected to give Team USA a real push for the gold medal. All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlines the 12-man roster, as well as 2023 NBA champion Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks and former Zag Andrew Nembhard.
Team Canada went 2-1 on its Olympic exhibition tour that began with an 86-72 loss to the U.S. in Las Vegas. Since then a 12-point win over Victor Wembanyama and France, followed by a win over Puerto Rico, has the Canadians entering group play with some momentum.
Greece, led by former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, snapped its 16-year Olympic basketball drought with four consecutive wins at the FIBA qualifying tournament earlier this month to punch its ticket to Paris. Antetokounmpo dominated the interior with 22.7 points per game, his teammates lit it up from outside the arc as the Greeks made 13.5 3-pointers per game and shot 43.5% on attempts from deep.
Greece rode its momentum into a highly-anticipated friendly against Nikola Jokic and Serbia, though the three-time MVP with the Denver Nuggets was too much in a 94-72 final in what was Vassilis Spanoulis’ first loss as head coach of Greece’s national team.
Saturday’s matchup figures to be the first of many to come over the course group play from Group A, which also includes Spain and Australia.
What: Canada and Greece square off in the preliminary round of men’s Olympic basketball
When: 3:00 p.m ET/noon PT on Saturday, July 27
Where: Pierre Mauroy Stadium | Villeneuve-d’Ascq
Live stream: Watch the 2024 Olympics live on Peacock
Betting odds per SI Sportsbook: Canada -7.5 (-110) O/U 172.5 (-110)
Team Canada
* Nickeil Alexander-Walker
* RJ Barrett
* Khem Birch
* Dillon Brooks
* Luguentz Dort
* Melvin Ejim
* Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
* Trey Lyles
* Jamal Murray
* Andrew Nembhard
* Kelly Olynyk
* Dwight Powell
Team Greece
* Kostas Papanikolaou
* Nick Calathes
* Giannoulis Larentzakis
* Giannis Antetokounmpo
* Georgios Papagiannis
* Konstantinos Mitoglou
* Thomas Walkup
* Kostas Antetokounmpo
* Vassilis Charalampopoulos
* Dimitris Moraitis
* Panagiotis Kalaitzakis
* Vassilis Toliopoulos
