Nowitzki's 35 points leads Germany over Czechs in OT; France, Russia win

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Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points and pulled in 11 rebounds as Germany needed overtime to beat the Czech Republic 83-78 Monday on the opening day of the European Championship.

Tony Parker scored 16 as France held off Poland 74-66 in a Group D match in Alicante, while Andrei Kirilenko's 24 points and 12 rebounds led Russia over Group A rival Serbia 73-65 in Granada.

In a Group B match in Sevilla, Latvia surprised Croatia 85-77.

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 rolled past 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 their 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 to forward Lubos Barton.

But the Germans rallied in the second half behind Nowitzki, who hit a pair of free throws at the end of the third quarter to give his side the lead for the first time 46-44 and connecting on a turnaround jumper from the top of the key to put Germany ahead 72-68 with 51 seconds remaining in regulation.

A jumper by the Czechs' Jakub Houska and a layup by Jiri Welsch had the Czechs within 73-72 with 20 seconds remaining. Mithat Demirel made the first of two foul shots four seconds later but Ladislav Sokolovsky sunk both free throws to tie the game before Demirel's last-second desperation shot missed.

Shortly after Demirel made one of two free throws, Nowitzki hit his second field goal in overtime to put Germany ahead 79-76 with 49 second to go. Houska dunked after a Barton miss to pull the Czechs within one with 29 seconds remaining, but another pair of Demirel free throws and a dunk by Demond Greene decided the game as the Czechs didn't get another shot until three seconds were left.

At Granada, Kirilenko scored 16 in the second half as Russia held off a Serbian side that shot only 33 per cent from the field.

Russia watched a 16-point first-half lead shrink to six before Nikita Morgunov's jumper at the halftime horn ended a 15-5 Serbian run.

Milenko Tepic missed a three-point attempt with 1:59 to go in the third that would have put Serbia ahead, and Kirilenko completed a three-point play on the ensuing possession to stretch Russia's lead to 51-46. Servia closed within three points only once more, 51-48, and Russia slowly pulled away with Morgunov sinking a three-pointer to hike the lead to 10 with 1:02 remaining.

France shot 42 per cent from the field and had four players score in double figures.

Leading 13-12, Boris Diaw hit a three-pointer then Parker connected on a layup and two subsequent free throws as France pushed ahead for good.

In Seville, fans laid flowers and lit candles outside the San Pablo Municipal Stadium for Sevilla FC midfielder Antonio Puerta, who died Tuesday after he collapsed during a Spanish league soccer match and had several subsequent heart attacks.

Inside, Gasol's three-pointer moved Spain ahead of Portugal 10-8 and the hosts closed the half on a 36-13 run, allowing coach Pepu Hernandez to give all of his squad playing time except guard Juan Carlos Navarro, who is absent for the first round with a leg injury.

Spain next plays Latvia, which earlier had five players in double figures, including centre Andris Biedrins with 14, against Croatia.

Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 18 and fellow NBA players Darius Songaila and Linas Kleiza had 12 apiece against Turkey.

The top-three from each group advance into the second round of group play, which will decide the quarter-finals.