Brazil bites the dust

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: Dirk Nowitzki overcame an early shooting slump to score a game-high 20 points and lead Germany past Brazil 78-65 and into the semifinals of the Olympic basketball qualifier on Friday. Greece, Puerto Rico and Croatia also advanced to Saturday’s semis. Germany will face Croatia and Greece will play Puerto Rico. The semifinals winners will qualify for the 12-team Olympic tournament, while the losers will play on Sunday for the final berth.

While Nowitzki started out shooting 1-for-8, Germany kept itself in the game thanks to its outside shooting. Overall, it made 13-of-26 3-pointers to Brazil’s 3-for-19. Nowitzki scored 11 in the second quarter as his team went on a 22-2 run over the final five minutes to take a 45-26 halftime lead. The Brazilians could not get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Nowitzki is now the tournament’s top scorer, averaging 23.7 after three games. Chris Kaman of the Los Angeles Clippers, who got a German passport this month, scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. “I’m just excited to be here,” Kaman said. “Now we are one win away from the Olympics.”

Elsewhere, Greece beat New Zealand 75-48 behind guard Vassilis Spanoulis’ 14 points. Lindsay Tait led New Zealand with nine. Greece employed its trademark-stifling defense from the start to jump to a 15-2 lead and was never seriously threatened. New Zealand’s Kirk Penney, who had averaged 27 points in the previous two games, was limited to eight on two-for-13 shooting. Croatia cruised past Canada 83-62 thanks to 17 points from Marko Popovic. Olu Famutimi scored 14 for Canada. After a tied first half, Puerto Rico hit seven three-pointers in the third period to pull away from Slovenia for an 81-70 win. Carlos Arroyo scored 17 for Puerto Rico, while Uros Slokar led Slovenia with 16.