Gasol brothers help restore the magic at Eurobasket
Twin Catalan giants manage to neutralize impact of Dallas Mavericks star Nowitzki
Spain regained its momentum on Wednesday and defeated an energetic German team 68-77 on the first day of second-round matchplay at Eurobasket 2011 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
No one can argue that the magic that Spain thought it had lost on Monday, when it suffered a painful defeat by Turkey, was restored by the omnipresence of the Gasol brothers during the second half. Pau Gasol, the Los Angeles Lakers forward, was called back on court after sitting out Monday's match because of a swollen ankle. Marc Gasol gave his team the game high of 24 points while his brother contributed 19 points, all in the second half.
"It cost [Pau] a lot to come in during the second half but he played spectacularly," said Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo.
The Germans did their best to keep the Spaniards from scoring higher, keeping a solid pace behind from start to finish. Germany took 39 rebounds, while Spain succeeded in 33. But if Marc Gasol was the Spanish star for the day, Dirk Nowitzki was Germany's great hope, scoring a team high of 19 points.
At the start of the fourth, the Dallas Mavericks forward caught a pass and launched a shot over Serge Ibaka that put Germany ahead 57-56. But it didn't last long.
Fernando San Emeterio, Caja Laboral's guard, was able to get a lay-up followed by two free throws by Rudy Fernandez, another Mavericks player, putting Spain back in the lead at 62-57. The Spanish team goes on to play Serbia on Friday and France on Sunday.
