In Milan, at Mediolanum Forum, Italy welcomes Greece in a much anticipated EuroBasket Group C game. Both national teams managed to win their opening game in the EuroBasket, making tonight’s match-up important for the top spot of the group.
The Hellenic NT beat Croatia (89-85), with Tyler Dorsey and Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring 27 points each. Georgios Papagiannis and Kostas Antetokounmpo did not compete yesterday and they could even miss tonight’s game.
On the other hand, the Italians prevailed over Estonia easily (83-62). Simone Fontecchio (19 points, 5 assists), NicolĂ² Melli (17 points, 6 assists, 4 steals) and Achille Polonara (12 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists) contributed the most to satisfy the home crowd. They have to maintain this level of performance, should they want to win tonight’s game.
Tonight’s game is sold out by the Italian fans. However, I believe that Greece NT is the favorite to win tonight. Giannis is an incredible athlete, as he showed in the final minute of the game against Croatia.
Gianmarco Pozzecco’s guys will have trouble guarding him. In addition, Greece’s head coach Dimitrios Itoudis knows that his team has to perform better defensively. Croatia scored 55 points in the second half, which must not happen again.
Therefore, my first betting prediction is that Greece will win tonight and both teams will score less than 165 points in total (odds at 2.40).
My fun bet will be Kostas Papanikolaou to score more than 7 points and Nick Calathes to record more than 5 assists (odds at 3).
Calathes managed to do so yesterday, so he is capable of repeating it tonight. Kostas Papanikolaou missed a lot against Croatia, however he played more minutes than any other Greek player and I think his scoring contribution will improve tonight.
Value bet:
Greece win + under 164.5 points in total (2.40)
Fun bet:
Kostas Papanikolaou over 7.5 points + Nick Calathes over 5.5 assists (3.00)