Greece's hopes of advancing to the Paris Olympics knockout round suffered a devastating blow Tuesday with an 84-77 loss to Spain.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Greece, which fell to 0-2 in Group A.
After losing their opening games on Saturday, Greece and Spain both came out essentially playing for their tournament lives, with the loser facing a must-win scenario on Friday -- and likely lots of help -- to have any chance of advancing.
That team is now Greece, which will meet Australia in its final chance to earn a victory before the field is trimmed to eight teams. Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP and eight-time All-Star for the Milwaukee Bucks, has 61 points on 67.6% shooting in Greece's two losses.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama had 19 points and 12 rebounds while Sergio Llull scored 13 points for Spain, which improved to 1-1 with one group-stage game left to play against Canada.
After cutting a 14-point halftime deficit to one point early in the fourth quarter, Greece tied the score at 71 on an emphatic, driving left-handed dunk by Antetokounmpo over Aldama.
But Spain steadied over the next few minutes, scoring the next eight points.
Greece pulled back to within 80-77 with 59 seconds left, but Antetokounmpo had a 3-pointer from the top of the key bounce off the rim.
Antetokounmpo set the tone for his team early, getting to the rim on multiple occasions, including a putback dunk over Usman Garuba.
Aldama did the same for Spain, leading all scorers out of the gate with 10 first-quarter points. He also got support from his teammates during a 13-3 run to end the second quarter that put Spain in front 49-35 at halftime.
Spain has a big health concern going forward after Rudy Fernandez left late in the fourth quarter after a collision under the basket and was helped by trainers to the locker room.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
