Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro – Dirk Nowitzki’s basket with 3.9 seconds lifted Germany into the final of the European Championship with a 74-73 win over Spain on Saturday.
Germany will face Greece, which rallied to beat France 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Dimitrios Diamantidis. The win sends Greece into its first tournament final since 1989.
Greece won its only European title at home in 1987, while Germany was the 1993 champion.
“Tomorrow will be the most important game in my life,” said Nowitzki, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks.
Nowitzki finished with 27 points and seven rebounds, going 5-for-10 from 3-point range. No other German scored in double figures.
Jose Calderon, who will play for the Toronto Raptors next season, missed a 3-point attempt for Spain at the buzzer.
“I’ve never seen the ball travel so long in my life,” No- witzki said.
Juan Carlos Navarro, who scored Spain’s last 10 points, also finished with 27.
Germany blew a late 11-point lead when Navarro brought his team within one with 48 seconds left. German guard Pascal Roller turned the ball over and Navarro put his team ahead 73-72 with 14 seconds left on the clock.
Tony Parker, point guard for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, hit a 3-pointer to put France up 58-51 with 1:12 left. But he also missed two free throws with 38 seconds left, then turned the ball over with a bad pass.
Center Lazaros Papadopoulos dunked the ball to cut France’s lead to 62-60.
Parker then made two free throws, but Theodoros Papa- loukas made it a two-point game again. Rigaudeau made one of two free throws and after a quick French foul, Papa- loukas made both for a 65-64 lead.
With 11.6 seconds left, Rigaudeau made one of two free throws before Diamantidis hit the winning shot.
Papadopoulos led Greece with 15 points and Dimosthenis Ntikoudis added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Parker had 20 points for France and Boris Diaw added 14.
“We made some tactical mistakes in the last few seconds,” Parker said. “But overall, I am happy with how we played.”
Earlier, Slovenia qualified for the World Championship for the first time when it beat Croatia 89-80 in a consolation match.
The victory sent Slovenia into a playoff for fifth place against Lithuania. Both teams have qualified for next year’s World Championship in Japan, along with the four semifinalists.
NFL
Steelers running back Staley
expected to play against Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Duce Staley has been upgraded from questionable to probable after practicing all week, and is expected to play today against the visiting New England Patriots.
Staley has not played since the Steelers’ 41-27 loss to New England in the AFC championship game in January. He practiced only the first day of training camp before needing knee surgery Aug. 8, and practiced little until last week.
Staley will back up Willie Parker, a third-team running back a year ago who is second in the NFL in rushing with 272 yards in two games.
FOOTNOTES
Cyclist Schleicher edges Cooke
at world championships
Germany’s Regina Schleicher won cycling’s road race at the world championships in Madrid, Spain, edging Britain’s Nicole Cooke by a length.
Schleicher covered the 78 miles in 3 hours, 8 minutes, 52 seconds. She was followed by Cooke and Australia’s Oenone Wood. The first 28 riders had the same time.
Australia’s William Walker was second and Russia’s Evgeny Popov was third, both 26 seconds behind.
Several former employees of the now-defunct All-American Professional Basketball League have filed claims with the state seeking unpaid wages from its founder and chief executive officer.
Worth Christie, a retired Casper businessman, shut down the six-state league last month, just weeks after a summer camp that drew hundreds of players to tryouts in Billings, Mont.
Christie has declined to comment on any future plans, directing questions to league attorney and board member John Hord, who did not return phone calls.
