Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo makes his first Olympics as Greece beat Croatia

Giannis Antetokounmpo is headed to the Olympics for the first time after scoring 23 points to help Greece beat Croatia 80-69 on Sunday. The game was one of four finals in the men’s basketball qualifying tournament held to determine the remaining spots in the 12-team field for the Paris Games.

“The best athletes in the world are competing at the Olympics,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have nothing to lose … I truly believe we have an incredible team and we can do something special.”

Georgios Papagiannis scored 19 points for Greece, who got 14 from Nick Calathes and secured their first Olympic starting spot since 2008.

“It’s really nice to qualify because that’s the first step,” Papagiannis said. “At the Olympics we want to do something really good there.”

Greece will play in Group A for the Paris Games, with opening-stage matches against Australia, Canada and Spain, who also qualified on Sunday after beating the Bahamas.

The reigning champions USA, as well as France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan, Canada and Australia had already qualified. France qualified as the host country; the other seven teams on the list qualified based on their performances at the World Cup last summer.

After the World Cup, 24 teams remained to compete for the final four spots, determined in winner-take-all qualifiers that began last week. Brazil took the first of those spots on Sunday, ahead of Greece and Spain. The final spot in the 12-team Olympic field will be decided later on Sunday when Lithuania visits Puerto Rico.

On Saturday, Antetokounmpo faced another perennial NBA All-Star, Luka Dončić, in the semifinals. Antetokounmpo and Greece defeated Dončić’s Slovenia 96-68.

“They played much better than us. They were much more aggressive,” Dončić said. “I think they have a great team. Obviously they have Giannis. But other pieces are also very important to them. And they are very well coached … They outclassed us today.”