Pau Gasol scored 23 points and Jose Calderon made some big plays down the stretch as Spain beat defending champion Greece 82-77 on Saturday to reach the final of the European Basketball Championship.
After Jorge Garbajosa hit two free throws to give Spain an 80-76 lead with 18 seconds to play, Theodoros Papaloukas lost the ball as he drove the lane. Juan Carlos Navarro, who finished with 23 points, then hit two free throws at the other end.
"It was a really tough game. We all worked for this one," Calderon said. "Even the coaches had to play hard in this game. It was a war."
PHOTO: AP
Calderon stole from Dimitrios Diamantidis with 1:47 to play and made the subsequent layup to push Spain out 74-68, moments after Gasol's two-handed dunk in front of a capacity crowd of 15,500.
Calderon knocked down two free throws to make it 76-70 moments later.
Three-pointers from Nikolaos Zisis and Panagiotis Vasilopoulos kept Greece close in the final minute.
"It was very difficult for both teams tonight," Greece forward Konstantinos Tsartsaris said. "We were tired from last night's game."
Vassilis Spanoulis led Greece with 24 points and five assists.
Later on Saturday, Lithuania was scheduled to play Russia.
In a tense ending to the third quarter, both benches cleared as Navarro and Diamantidis jawed at each other with Greece ahead 60-59.
After Navarro hit a 3-pointer, Gasol blocked Lazaros Papaloukas -- one of two blocks to start the fourth -- as Spain pushed out 64-60.
Diamantidis tied it at 65 nearly midway through the last period and Papadopoulos' subsequent layup at 5:17 gave Greece its last lead.
Earlier, Dirk Nowitzki, who finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, hit a clutch basket with 12 seconds to play as Germany rallied for a 69-65 win over Slovenia, a win that gave the Germans a chance to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
Croatia also earned a place in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament with an 86-69 win over France.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
RSS