Madrid, Spain – Dirk Nowitzki had 35 points and 11 rebounds in Germany’s 83-78 overtime victory against the Czech Republic on the opening day of the European basketball championships Monday.
In Alicante, Tony Parker scored 16 and France held off Poland 74-66, and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Jaka Lakovic lifted Slovenia past Olympic runner-up Italy 69-68 in Group D.
Defending champion Greece opened with a 76-66 win over Israel in a Group A match in Granada, and Andrei Kirilenko’s 24 points and 12 rebounds led Russia over Serbia 73-65.
NBA all-star forward Pau Gasol scored 19 and Spain routed Portugal 82-56 in Seville to begin its campaign to become the third country to lift the European trophy while holding the world title.
Latvia surprised Croatia 85-77 in the other Group B match.
In Group C, three-time winner Lithuania downed Turkey 85-69.
At Palma de Mallorca, Nowitzki scored 19 second-half points and four more in overtime as Germany rallied from an early deficit in its Group C game.
“This was a lot tougher than we thought it would be,” the Dallas Mavericks star said. “But it was good that we held together.”
The Czechs led 31-25 at halftime thanks to 10 points from forward Lubos Barton.
But the Germans rallied in the second half behind Nowitzki, who hit a 3-pointer to spark a 10-1 run that put Germany ahead 46-44 in the fourth quarter.
The NBA MVP connected on a turnaround jumper from the top of the key to keep the Germans ahead 72-68 with 51 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Czechs closed to within 74-72 with 20 seconds to go and Ladislav Sokolovsky sank two free throws to tie the game and Mithat Demirel’s last-second shot missed.
Nowitzki’s second field goal in overtime put Germany ahead by three with 49 seconds to go. Jakob Houska dunked after a Barton miss to pull the Czechs within one with 29 seconds left, but a pair of Demirel free throws and a dunk by Demond Greene clinched it for the Germans.
In Group D, the lead changed four times in the last 30 seconds, but it was Lakovic who was swarmed by teammates after the Slovenian guard buried a 3-pointer over two Italian defenders from 4 feet behind the line for the win.
Earlier, France shot 42 percent from the field and had four players score in double figures.
