The Greek Freak got turned into a plate of barbecued gyros. And in Spain’s tight 73-71 quarterfinal victory over Greece at EuroBasket 2015 on Tuesday, it was Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic doing the grilling.
The fourth quarter saw the Spaniards get out on the fastbreak after a steal by Mirotic, who threw the ball up the floor to teammate Sergio Rodriguez. Rodriguez then returned the favor, hitting a streaking Mirotic in stride as Greece’s resident extraterrestrial Giannis Antetokounmpo lurked in hot pursuit.
It was the meeting at the summit that our ancestors had promised us.
Ew.
Nikola Mirotic POSTERIZES "the Greek Freak", Giannis Antetokounmpo.
pic.twitter.com/0cORV67ZZB
— NBA On Def Pen (@NBAOnDefPen) September 15, 2015
As Giannis rose up, visions of chasedown fairies dancing in his head, it was Mirotic, the fab facial-haired phenom, who emerged triumphant, powering through a two-handed slam on the Greek Freak with a calculated staredown at the end for good measure.
The reverse angle of the Central Division degradation was equally nasty.
Mirotic slams on Giannis https://t.co/Sf5ciEnIBu
— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) September 15, 2015
Of course, Antetokounmpo had himself a day as well, dunk-shaming aside. He double-doubled with 12 points and 17 rebounds.
17 rebounds for Giannis today vs. Spain. Smashes his NBA career high of 15 boards.
— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) September 15, 2015
He also did this to Mirotic’s Chicago teammate Pau Gasol in the third quarter, which may explain why Mirotic was so bloodthirsty.
Giannis Antetokounmpo blocks the hell out of Pau Gasol. https://t.co/hU2GGktVTX
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) September 15, 2015
For Mirotic’s part, this is one really good way to help us all forget about his reprehensible incident earlier in the tournament.
H/T Dime Magazine
Image via FIBA on YouTube
