OKC Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari’s Team Italy wins Game 2 versus Angola at FIBA
OKC Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari and his Italian team played their second game in the FIBA 2019 World Cup improving to 2-0.
With the second game on tap for the Italian squad, it was OKC Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari who once again shone in action at the tournament.
After winning their opening match versus the Phillipines the competition didn’t get much stiffer as the Italians faced team Angola. And once more Gallo’s team thumped their opponent besting them by over 30 points via a score of 92-61.
Just like Game One, Italian Head Coach Meo Sacchetti had his roster ready for battle. In fact the new Thunder forward and his mates limited Angola to a total of 21 points in the first half. This via the first quarter of imbalance of 25 to 11 and a second quarter besting of 19 to 10.
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That 23 point differential was never in jeopardy as the Italians returned from the break to win the third quarter 26 to 21 and finish off the match by a perfect run winning the final frame 22 to 19.
The Group D opponent on this day was Team Angola who never found a rhythm or ability to put the match in question.
Once again, Danilo Gallinari was one of his squad’s overachievers but on this day it was more his all-around game which stood out. Gallo scored just seven points but the rest of his stat line read six rebounds, two assists, and a block.
Unlike his first outing, the OKC Thunder forward wasn’t firing from deep with the same efficiency missing both attempts while he managed to connect on three of his seven shot attempts. Again, he was one of the better overall performers, however, with a plus 24 on the day.
As for his fellow teammates, evenly distributed scoring was the difference with five of Gallo’s teammates scoring in double digits. Marco Belinelli led the way with 17 points and was joined by three players who scored 11 points (Daniel Hackett, Jeff Brooks, and Awudu Abass) plus Amedeo Tessitori chipped in 10 points.
How Thunder can capitalize on Gallinari's desire to join contender. dark. Next
Game three for the Italians will find them playing the last opponent in their Group D which is Serbia on September 4th. The Serbians are by far the most difficult opponent of their group and are among the pre-tourney favorites to win the World Cup.