Olympics: Nuggets Gallo & Jokic advance in qualifying play

Jul 9, 2015; Montreal, CAN; Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 9, 2015; Montreal, CAN; Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 10, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari (8) reacts during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at Pepsi Center. The Mavericks won 144-143 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari (8) reacts during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at Pepsi Center. The Mavericks won 144-143 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /

Danilo Gallinari and Italy rout Mexico

The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin — an event being hyped as the “the most anticipated event of Italian basketball — has not let the home crowd down to this point. The underdog Italian national team (ranked #35 in FIBA’s World Rank) has played three teams ranked higher than they are (Tunisia, Croatia and Mexico) and won all three games, two of them in routs.

On Friday, Danilo Gallinari and the Italians got off to a hot start, giving the home crowd life. They won the first quarter 19-13 and Gallo poured in 10 points in the quarter before taking a breather on the bench. Gallinari picked up where he left off when he returned to action and had 13 of the Italians’ 34 points at one point in the second quarter, per BSN Denver’s Harrison Wind:

Gallo had struggled a bit to score the ball earlier in the tournament, averaging just 9.0 points in 24.3 minutes per game coming into todays action. He even denounced the balls FIBA has been using throughout the event, according to Sportando:

Fortunately for Italy, Gallo was able to find his stroke with the condemned balls early on, and the Italians never looked back after taking the lead a first-quarter lead. Gallo scored 15 points on just 4/11 (36.4%) shooting Friday, but went 3/5 from deep and 4/4 from the free-throw line in Italy’s 79-54 victory over the Mexican national team. Mexico was without one of its best players, Gustavo Ayon, and it showed in the second-half as Italy continued to out-execute the undermanned Mexican squad. Italy’s bench outscored Mexico’s by a drastic 33-13 margin.

Watch the ball find a wide-open Gallo for three in this highlight clip, around 0:08.

Gallo also pulled in four rebounds in his 21 minutes, helping propel his team to the Final on Saturday where Italy will take on Croatia again. The Italians got the best of Croatia on Tuesday, winning a close matchup, but Saturday’s contest is a lot bigger — with a trip to Rio on the line.

Join the Turin crowd as they cheer on Il Gallo and his Italian teammates in a do-or-die game against the tournament’s leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic (23.7 ppg) and Croatia on Saturday. Should Italy continue its improbable run, Gallo will be headed to Rio!

Next: Serbia vs. Czech Republic in Belgrade