Germany oust Giannis and Greece, Spain rally past Finland into EuroBasket semis

BERLIN: Giannis Antetokounmpo got ejected, and Greece’s hopes of bringing home a European championship ended not long afterward.

Germany, meanwhile, are taking full advantage of their home-court edge.

Dennis Schroder scored 26 points, Daniel Theis had a 13-point, 16-rebound effort and host Germany moved into the EuroBasket semifinals with a 107-96 win over Greece on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo had a monster game for Greece — 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in 30 minutes. But he also picked up two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, the last of those leading to his ejection with 4:56 left.

Greece were down by 14 when he committed his second such foul, and Germany maintained full control the rest of the way.

Germany now have a chance at what would be just their second medal in their last 13 appearances at EuroBasket. The Germans won the European title in 1993 and were second in 2005; assured of no worse than fourth now, this tournament will mark their best EuroBasket finish since that silver-medal showing.

“I think this is unbelievable for German basketball, the way this team, the way these players have performed on their home soil up to now,” Germany coach Gordie Herbert said. “I think the way they’ve played, the way we’ve played, people can relate to. They see an identity.”

Greece and Serbia were the only two teams that made it through the group stage of EuroBasket with unbeaten records, both 5-0 and led by a pair of two-time NBA MVPs — Antetokounmpo for Greece, Nikola Jokic for Serbia.

Then came the knockout stage, and the records no longer mattered. Serbia and Jokic were ousted in the round of 16 by Italy; Antetokounmpo and Greece are now gone as well.

“We really enjoyed the ride,” Greece coach Dimitrios