2014 FIBA World Cup Group B: Greece vs. Philippines Live Streaming Info, Betting Odds and Preview
The Philippines almost shocked world with near win against Croatia in their opening game. On Sunday, they’ll face another European powerhouse in Greece in the continuing group phase action of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Sevilla, Spain.
The Philippines fell to Croatia, 81-78 in a game that needed overtime to be decided while Greece had an easy time in notching the victory over African squad Senegal, 87-64 on Monday. While the Greeks were expected to romp through their hapless opponents, the Filipinos were pegged as huge 23-point underdogs before the match.
The Filipinos were led by naturalized player and NBA free agent Andre Blatche, who finished with big double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds. The Philippines who trailed by as much as 15 points early in the ballgame also got support from shooting guard Jeff Chan, who had 17 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting and power forward Marc Pingris, who had 10 points and 4 rebounds despite going up against the taller Croatians.
The Greeks had little trouble against the outmatched Senegalese players. They led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter and then 45-17 at the half and never let up in getting the blowout victory. Four players finished in double-figure scoring for Greece led by Kostas Kaimakoglou who had 17 points and added 8 rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals while Kostas Vasileiadis had 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.
As expected, the Greece is the huge favourite in this match being chalked at 1.05 to win the match with 18.5 points against the spread.
Greece is ranked 5th in the FIBA world rankings—and the third in Europe after Spain and Lithuania-- while the Philippines is ranked 32nd in the same rankings. In Asia, the Filipinos are ranked 5th after China, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan and Korea.
But after the close loss to Croatia, the Philippines have proven that they can at least keep up with the giants in basketball and Greece has taken notice.
Watch the Greece vs. Philippines live streaming via these links: ESPN and LiveBasketball.TV.