Giannis Antetokounmpo has been a force at EuroBasket, the second leading scorer in the tournament and a guy who has now carried Greece to the semifinals.
But Alperen Sengun may be playing better.
Turkiye has looked as good as any team in the tournament and is undefeated at EuroBasket, 7-0, winning games by an average of 18.6 points, including a five-point win against Nikola Jokic and tournament favorite Serbia. Former NBA players Shane Larkin (13 points, five assists) and Cedi Osman (10 points, five rebounds) also contributed to the win, ending Poland’s Cinderella run.
Next up for Turkiye is trying to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. That’s something Lithuania could not do on Tuesday.
When Antetokounmpo is hitting his midrange jumpers like that, there is no stopping him. He finished with 29 points while shooting 9-of-14 inside the arc. Vassilis Toliopoulos of Panathinaikos added 17 for the Greek team.
Jonas Valanciunas had 24 points and 15 boards for Lithuania in the loss.
Turkiye and Greece will meet on Friday with a trip to the EuroBasket Finals on the line.