Germany stun Serbia, U.S. march on

ISTANBUL, (Reuters) – A weakened German team, missing  their talismanic NBA forward Dirk Nowitzki, produced the shock  of the world championship yesterday with an 82-81 win over  Serbia after two overtime periods.

Tournament favourites the U.S. cruised to a 99-77 rout of  Slovenia, holders Spain brushed aside New Zealand 101-84 while  2006 finalists Greece had to dig deep to overcome the unfancied opposition of Puerto Rico.

Hosts Turkey, roared on by their fans, dismissed Russia 65-56 and Argentina, the 2004 Olympic champions, rallied from a six-point halftime deficit in a 74-72 defeat of Australia.

Germany’s chances of advancing into the last 16 looked slim   after Nowitzki had pulled out of the 24-team event, but his understudy Jan-Hendrik Jagla produced a truly scintillating performance to give the Germans their first win.

Jagla hit an incredible three-pointer in the final minute of  the rip-roaring contest, from an almost impossible angle, to  give the Germans an 82-77 lead after Serbia had twice forced overtime with a barrage of long-range efforts.

The towering blond-haired forward, as much a Nowitzki  lookalike in appearance as in talent, finished with a game-high  22 points and nine rebounds, having sunk eight of his 12 shots  and four of six from three-point range.

Germany, who lost their opening match to Argentina, are  still not assured of a berth in the knockout rounds but victory  against the much more fancied Serbians gave their coach Dirk  Bauermann a tremendous confidence boost.

“The team showed remarkable resilience and spirit to earn a  sensational win today, the most important and most spectacular  victory carved out by this group of players,” Bauermann said.
Jagla added: “We fought for every possession and always  believed we could win it, it is a big step forward for us to  improve and be able to win games like this one.”

Strong starts in each half allowed the United States to  treat an appreciative crowd in the Abdi Ikpeci Arena to a  swashbuckling display of fast breaks, slam-dunks and prolific  perimeter shooting.

The U.S. raced to an 18-6 lead which swelled to 59-32 early  in the second half and although they at times made sloppy  turnovers with travelling violations, their size and skill was  too much for the battling Slovenians.

Forward Kevin Durant, who was outstanding in Saturday’s  opening win over Croatia, led the United States with 22 points,  Rudy Gay added 16 in just 15 minutes on the court and centre  Kevin Love chipped in 10 to go with 11 rebounds.