Evangels

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic dribbled behind his back before an <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsSW/status/1584009079403401216?s=20&amp;t=X5fIRYIE_N0ugt_4t-vTiQ">alley-oop pass to new pick-and-roll partner Christian Wood</a> for a one-handed dunk.
Moments later the Dallas superstar delivered his <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsSW/status/1584009479993315328?s=20&amp;t=X5fIRYIE_N0ugt_4t-vTiQ">final assist to Tim Hardaway Jr. for a punctuating 3-pointer</a> in a home-opening party for Mavericks.
Never mind what Doncic did early.
The young Slovenian scored 21 of his 32 points in the first quarter, and the Mavericks rode a hot start to a 137-96 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.
&ldquo;It's incredible. I don't even know what to talk about,&rdquo; Wood said of Doncic after getting 25 points and 12 rebounds in his home debut following an offseason trade that brought the 6-foot-10 center from Houston.
&ldquo;The things that he does on the offensive end, the passes he makes, how he gets everybody set up, it's amazing.&rdquo;
Ja Morant scored the first six Memphis points, but the first bucket from someone else didn't come until the 4:30 mark of the first quarter as the Grizzlies trailed 39-17 going to the second.
Morant finished with 20 points a night after a 49-point showing in a victory at Houston gave him 83 points through two games.
The Grizzlies were trying for their first 3-0 start in five years, but instead ended up on the wrong end of the biggest blowout in the season's first five days at 41 points.
The Mavericks led by 25 points in the first, and the 22-point margin after the quarter matched the lead the 2022 Western Conference finalists blew in a 107-105 loss at Phoenix to open the season.
There was no risk of a repeat for Dallas in a meeting of two West playoff qualifiers from last season, with those last two of Doncic's 10 assists late in the third quarter finishing off a showy night for Dallas.
Doncic shouted and flexed for emphasis in the lane after feeding Wood's one-handed slam, then the three-time All-Star beat the third-quarter buzzer with the pass to Hardaway for a corner 3 and 99-71 lead.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing the game at a different level right now,&rdquo; coach Jason Kidd said, &ldquo;kind of like where he picked up last season where he ended playing at an extremely high level.&rdquo;
Dallas put its best defenders on Morant, but used plenty of help to make the young sensation's paths to the rim difficult. Morant was limited to 12 shots (six makes) and four assists, going 8 of 8 on free throws.
&ldquo;I think a great team played great, and we didn&rsquo;t play great,&rdquo; Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said, ending his postgame session with reporters after that one question.
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Desmond Bane scored 14 points, and Tyus Jones had 10. ... Memphis has lost four in a row against Dallas since winning the first meeting last season.
Mavericks: Doncic had at least 20 points in the first quarter for the third time in the regular season. His personal record is 28 against the Los Angeles Clippers last season the same day Dallas traded his former European sidekick, Kristaps Porzingis. ... Hardaway scored 16 points, and Spencer Dinwiddie had 15.
EARLY LUKA
Doncic had little trouble getting his shots early, going 8 of 10 in the first, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range with some easy buckets, while adding three assists. He finished 12 of 23 and had seven rebounds.
&ldquo;I thought Luka and those guys set the tone in the first quarter by the paint touches,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;We got good looks, make or miss.&rdquo;
ALL IN
The blowout allowed the Mavericks to repeat what they did a year ago in the home opener when every active player on the roster got into the game. The only one who didn't score was rookie Jaden Hardy, who was 0 of 3 from the field. Tyler Dorsey scored nine points in four minutes.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: Host Brooklyn on Monday night.
Mavericks: At New Orleans on Tuesday night.
___
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Luka Doncic scored 21 of his 32 points in the first quarter, and the Mavericks rode a hot start to a 137-96 rout of the Grizzlies.

Doncic, Mavs have fast start, rip Griz 137-96 in home opener

BERLIN (AP) &mdash; Giannis Antetokounmpo got ejected, and Greece&rsquo;s hopes of bringing home a European championship ended not long afterward.
Germany, meanwhile, is taking full advantage of its 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 &mdash; 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 was down by 14 when he committed his second such foul, and Germany maintained full control the rest of the way.
Germany now has a chance at what would be just its second medal in its 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.
&ldquo;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,&rdquo; Germany coach Gordie Herbert said. &ldquo;I think the way they&rsquo;ve played, the way we&rsquo;ve played, people can relate to. They see an identity.&rdquo;
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 &mdash; 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.
&ldquo;We really enjoyed the ride,&rdquo; Greece coach Dimitrios Itoudis said. &ldquo;We really enjoyed the journey. I think that we made a lot of people proud with the way that this team performs. We wanted to go more, but it didn&rsquo;t happen this time.&rdquo;
Giannoulis Larentzakis scored 18 points on only five shot attempts for Greece; he was 5 for 5 from the field, four of those from 3-point range, and was 4 for 6 from the foul line. Tyler Dorsey added 13 for Greece.
Franz Wagner and Andreas Obst had 19 points apiece for Germany, which plays Spain in Friday&rsquo;s semifinals.
&ldquo;It was a really physical game,&rdquo; Wagner said. &ldquo;A lot of points. We found our rhythm really early and I think we did a way better job collectively guarding them in the second half.&rdquo;
SPAIN 100, FINLAND 90
Most of the names on Spain&rsquo;s national team have changed in the last year, with the roster that headed to EuroBasket significantly different from the one that played in the Tokyo Olympics.
The expectations, however, remain the same.
Willy Hernangomez scored 27 points, Juancho Hernangomez added 15 and Spain &mdash; with just three players who got any significant playing time at the Tokyo Games last summer &mdash; powered into the semifinals by erasing a 15-point deficit and topping Finland in Tuesday&rsquo;s first quarterfinal.
Down 50-35 late in the final half, Spain outscored Finland 65-40 over the game&rsquo;s final 21 minutes.
&ldquo;We showed, one more time, cohesiveness, toughness, generosity, we shared the ball well,&rdquo; Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. &ldquo;At the end of the day, this is what you can ask to a team which is so inexperienced and so new in this kind of engagement.&rdquo;
Spain reached the EuroBasket semifinals for the 11th consecutive time and will play Germany on Friday for a spot in the final.
Dario Brizuela scored 14 points, Rudy Fernandez added 11 and Lorenzo Brown had 10 for Spain.
&ldquo;It was a hard battle,&rdquo; said Willy Hernangomez, Juancho&rsquo;s older brother. &ldquo;Tough battle for us. ... Our first half was really bad. We started the game not with the right mentality. And then at halftime, (we said) we&rsquo;ve got to be us, we&rsquo;ve got to be us.&rdquo;
Spain opened the third quarter on a 17-5 run, more than setting the tone for its comeback.
Lauri Markkanen scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Finland, while Mikael Jantunen scored 13, Alexander Madsen had 13 and Sasu Salin added 11.
Finland was seeking its first trip to the EuroBasket semifinals.
&ldquo;Well, you see why Spain is always so tough,&rdquo; Finland&rsquo;s Shawn Huff said. &ldquo;They never give up. We gave it a good shot.&rdquo;
WEDNESDAY&rsquo;S SCHEDULE
The other two quarterfinal games are on tap: France plays Italy, and defending champion Slovenia takes on Poland.

Dennis Schroder scored 26 points, Daniel Theis had a 13-point, 16-rebound effort and host Germany moved into the semis.

Germany ousts Giannis, Spain rallies to EuroBasket semis

<a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022/news/greece-eke-out-win-over-italy-amid-saturday-night-fervor-in-milan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The following game recap</a> was originally published on FIBA's official website. Check out their <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022/news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complete coverage of FIBA EuroBasket 2022</a>.
MILAN (Italy) &ndash; Greece maintained their 100 percent start at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 by outlasting co-hosts Italy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022/game/0309/Greece-Italy#tab=boxscore">85-81</a>&nbsp;in a compelling encounter that eventually went to the wire.
It showcased everything that is great about international basketball, great stars at their peak, battling one another intensely, in front of 11,742 fans at the Milano Assago Arena.
The Greeks began vigorously, their pressure defense amped to the max, and the combo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyler Dorsey finding opportunities to build an early 16-7 lead.
After starting 0-for-5 from three-point range, Gigi Datome kickstarted an Italian revival from deep amid an 8-2 burst in the first - and despite an 11-3 Greek surge in the second, an ability to get to the foul line accelerated the home side within reach at 47-40 at the half.
Saturday night fervor was in plentiful supply in front of a capacity crowd sprinkled with basketball royalty in the shape of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and an array of former charges including Marco Belinelli and Luis Scola.
They received a second half treat as the rivals danced and swayed back and forth, Greece up 14 in the third but then bombarded by consecutive threes from Simone Fontecchio inside a minute and then another from Achille Polonara.
The Azzurri were forced to scrap for every chances when their guests re-opened a double-digit advantage entering the fourth. This time, Greece had just enough breathing space to shrug off a late rally, inspired by Fontecchio and a small ball switch, that slashed the lead to just three with Stefano Tonut's attempt to force overtime with two seconds left missing its mark.
Turning Point:&nbsp;Italy never led but continued to find ways to respond to each Greek surge until late in the third when a 12-2 run broke their resolve. It began with two free throws from Giannis Antetokounmpo but when he immediately went to the bench, his colleagues seized the spotlight to build a 71-56 advantage that proved insurmountable.
TCL Player of the Game:&nbsp;Giannis Antetokounmpo was very much The Greek Freak, notching 7 of his game-high 25 points in a tone-setting opening period as defensive anchor and eventually adding 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Stats Don&rsquo;t Lie:&nbsp;Greece found efficient scoring, converting 27-for-60 and finding sweet spots under the basket and off screens to find open threes on the left, a mirror image of Italy.
Bottom Line:&nbsp;Greece is 2-0 following what were expected to be its two toughest games in Group C. There are still wrinkles to iron out before the transfer to Berlin. Italy, now 1-1, may need to nurse bruises before Monday&rsquo;s meeting with Ukraine.
They said:
"I think if we fight, we're going to make mistakes every game. But if we fight, we keep battling, no matter if we're up or down. We just keep pushing - I think that's the goal. Because when we get down, when they make runs, that can be contagious. We've just got to keep our body language right and just keep fighting." -&nbsp;Greece guard Tyler Dorsey
&ldquo;We remained competitive and that&rsquo;s the good thing,. We refused to step back. We were always on the level of being very competitive, We had our good moments. Unfortunately the bad moments, Italy came back. They`re such a team. We prepared for that in terms of Italy playing small ball. They played ball out with great shooters in Melli and Polonara but we managed to control that with switches. We had our challenges with our system and our play with the big bodies out there but the forwards and guards did a great job.&rdquo; &ndash;&nbsp;Greek head coach Dimitrios Itoudis
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really proud of my players. We played so hard. But the best thing that we showed tonight is that we never give up. Probably another team in that situation, where we were in the third quarter, when we were a little bit tired, Greece&nbsp; was playing great and I was a little bit worried. But my players showed me I had no need to be worried.&rdquo; &ndash;&nbsp;Italy head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco

Greece gets a tough win against Italy in the group stage of EuroBasket 2022.

Tony

Doncic, Mavs have fast start, rip Griz 137-96 in home opener

Germany ousts Giannis, Spain rallies to EuroBasket semis

Greece eke out win over Italy amid Saturday night fervor in Milan