Giannis Antetokounmpo has Greece off and running in the chase for an Olympic basketball berth.
The Milwaukee Bucks star scored 16 points Monday as the Greeks began play in their Olympic Qualifying tournament with a 78-53 victory over Iran.
The final spots in Rio will be determined this week in the three tournaments. There are six teams in each and the winners will be Brazil bound.
There were two games in Turin, Italy, and two in Belgrade, Serbia. Play begins in the Manila, Philippines on Tuesday.
Group play continues Tuesday with two games in each tournament.
A look at Monday’s results:
TURIN, ITALY
GREECE 78, IRAN 53
Antetokounmpo was 7 for 8 from the field in just 19 minutes. The Greeks never trailed, led by as many as 27 points and scored 33 points off 27 Iran turnovers.
Former NBA centre Hamed Hadadi finished with 16 points for Iran, which shot 38.5 per cent.
ITALY 68, TUNISIA 41
Former NBA No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani had 15 points and six rebounds, and the hosts used a huge third quarter to pull away from Tunisia.
Italy broke away from a 32-27 halftime lead by outscoring Tunisia 22-2 in the third quarter. Pietro Aradori added 13 points and Marco Belinelli added 11 for the Italians.
The Tunisians were without top player Makram Ben Romdhane because of an ankle injury.
Italy hosts Croatia on Tuesday, while Iran faces Mexico.
BELGRADE, SERBIA
SERBIA 87, PUERTO RICO 81
Serbia took control late in the first half, then held off Puerto Rico down the stretch to pick up the win. Nemanja Nedovic scored 14 points, while Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets was one of four Serbians with 12 points and added eight rebounds.
The silver medallists in the 2014 Basketball World Cup and favourites to win this group outscored Puerto Rico 20-9 in the second quarter to open a 10-point halftime lead. Serbia shot 50.7 per cent from the field.
John Holland led Puerto Rico with 21 points.
LATVIA 88, JAPAN 48
Dairis Bertans keyed Latvia’s strong start and finished with 20 points in a game that was never close. The Latvians led 26-11 after one quarter and pushed it to 46-23 at halftime.
Janis Blums added 17 points for Latvia, which is playing without New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis, the runner-up for NBA Rookie of the Year.
Kosuke Takeuchi scored 12 points for Japan.
On Tuesday, Puerto Rico plays Angola, and Latvia faces the Czech Republic.
