OKC Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari and his Italian team began their second round of FIBA World Cup play with a loss to Team Spain.
Entering the second round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup tournament the Italian Team and OKC Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari began their second phase facing the power house Spanish Team.
Like the final game of the first round the Italian’s came up short losing 67 to 60. Like the loss to the Serbian’s this Spanish team featured one of the elite teams expected to medal or potentially win the tournament.
This match was a closely fought battle with the teams playing to an 18 – 18 first-quarter tie. The second quarter featured the Italian squad taking a one-point lead following a 12 to 13 point effort.
Returning from the half the Spanish Team chipped away at the Italian club erasing the deficit with a three-point differential to take a two-point lead after a 20 to 17 point third quarter. The final frame featured another top quarter as Team Spain finished off Team Italy with a 17 point frame while holding Gallo and company to 12 points for the seven-point victory.
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Yet again, OKC Thunder forward, Danilo Gallinari delivered for his National squad with a complete game effort scoring 15 points. In addition, Gallo grabbed five rebounds, dished two assists and snared two steals. His plus 18 point differential was easily the top result for the Italian’s but his teammates were unable to help him bolster the odds to win.
Teammate Luigi Datome was the only other player to register double-digit scoring with 12 points.
Gallo also connected on two of his five 3-point shot attempts, however, the rest of his team shot a meager 2 for 15 from deep for a 13.3 percent efficiency or 4 of 20 in total for 20 percent from deep.
Although the Spanish team wasn’t necessarily hot from outside their 6 of 23 from 3-point range (26 percent) was enough to make the difference in the final tally.
Like Team Italy the Spanish Team features several NBA pros including the Suns Ricky Rubio, Raptors Marc Gasol, the two Hernangomez brothers Willy (Hornets) and Juancho (Nuggets) and former NBA talent Rudy Fernandez.
Juan Hernangomez led Team Spain with 16 points while Ricky Rubio scored 15 points.
Next up, the OKC Thunder big man and his Italian club will face Team Puerto Rico on September 8th although even a win won’t help them move into the quarter-final single elimination round.