Defense makes difference in tough U.S. hoops win over Greece

By KEVIN TRESOLINI

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece — The Greeks arrived with their flags of deep blue and white, their strongest voices and their highest hopes Tuesday night at the Helliniko Indoor Arena.

The United States came with just enough idea of how to play winning basketball, resulting in a satisfying but difficult 77-71 victory over their Summer Olympics hosts.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson, playing a team-high 29 minutes with a fractured right thumb, scored 17 points to lead the United States, which had to overcome another poor shooting night and a determined Greek squad buoyed by a raucous sellout crowd of 12,000.

Coming in the wake of Sunday's ugly 19-point loss to Puerto Rico, the U.S. improved to 1-1 with three Group B games remaining. Greece is also 1-1, as just two of the tournament's 12 teams — Spain and Lithuania — have won their first two Olympic games. Australia comes next for the Americans on Thursday. The top four teams in each group advance to single-elimination medal play.

"We were much better defensively and that was the difference," U.S. coach Larry Brown said. "Our guards got killed on dribble penetration against Puerto Rico, and then our transition defense was really bad. Tonight we kept people in front of us. Our guards did a much better job."

The U.S. won despite some tense moments after center Tim Duncan (14 points, game-high nine rebounds) fouled out with 1:43 left and his team up by nine. Lamar Odom played 27 minutes and grabbed eight rebounds despite a stomach virus that left him weak and dehydrated.

The Americans shot 40.3 percent from the field but just 19 percent (4 of 21) from three-point range and 59 percent from the foul line.

Greece's Antonios Fotsis scored a game-high 22 points.

"We tried really hard," said Fotsis, a 6-foot-10 forward who made three three-pointers. "The game was very difficult for us. Despite the fact that we lost, I am sure that our incredible fans enjoyed the game. We proved Greece is a competitive team."

Greek fans began singing songs and waving their flags 25 minutes before the 10:15 p.m. tipoff. When the Greeks took the floor several minutes later, the volume increased significantly. The Americans' subsequent arrival was greeted with boos and whistles, the European signal of spectator disdain.

The crowd roared throughout, especially when Michail Kakiouzis drilled a three-pointer from the right corner to pull Greece within 62-61 with 6:21 remaining. But the U.S. took charge afterward.

"Our intensity was a lot better," U.S. forward Carlos Boozer said. "We had the intensity we had from the second half of the first game the whole game this time. We're going to need that to keep winning games. We were physical. We were active on defense."

The U.S. was shocked by Puerto Rico 92-73 in its Olympic opener. That was the first U.S. loss in Olympic basketball since NBA players became eligible in 1992 and dropped the Americans' all-time record to 119-3 in Olympic play

The Greeks had led by as many as four points early. But an 11-0 run, in which LeBron James scored eight fast-break points, gave the Americans a 31-19 cushion. James finished with 10 points in just 11:09 of play.

"He gave us a huge lift," Brown said.

The lead shrunk to 37-31 by halftime, then vanished temporarily in the third quarter when Lazaros Papadopoulos scored to put Greece up 40-39 with 7:30 left. But 11 unanswered U.S. points soon after, capped by Duncan's dunk at the end of a four-pass fast break, provided some breathing room at 55-44. Another Greece rally trimmed the Americans' edge to 57-53 entering the fourth quarter. But despite their approving audience, the Greeks couldn't come all the way back.

"The crowd was great," Duncan said. "We're used to that. We played defense, made some shots and stayed focused."

Greece trounced Australia 76-54 in its Olympic opener Sunday. The host nation finished fifth in its one previous Olympic endeavor at the 1996 Atlanta Games and finished fourth at the world championships in 1994 and 1998. None of its players are on NBA teams. Seven play on Greek pro teams, with three others on Russian clubs and one each on Spanish and Italian teams.