NBA stars keep European giants aiming high

Europe's top NBA players once again carried their national teams on a shock-free second day of the 2011 European Championships as holders Spain, hosts Lithuania, Germany and Turkey came up with convincing wins. Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol poured in 20 points to lead Spain in an 87-73 blasting of Portugal to remain perfect at 2-0 in Group A in Panevezys. "We used a lot of our players in order to give others the necessary rest before tomorrow's (Friday) very difficult game (against Great Britain)," said Spain coach Sergio Scariolo. "Overall we reached our goal which was to have two wins after the opening two games." Lithuania cruised past Poland 97-77 with Mantas Kalnietis leading the way with 19 points while five others scored at least eight points. Turkey are also 2-0 following a 90-61 mauling of Great Britain with Emir Preldzic's 15 points pacing four Turkish players in double figures. In Group B in Siauliai, France's San Antonio Spurs star guard Tony Parker collected 21 points to lead Les Bleus to an 85-68 victory over Israel while Nicolas Batum added 15 for the 2-0 French. "We are happy to have won this game. There could be a trap game after a win. But we were really focused and took this game seriously," said France's Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw. Germany used a 14-2 run to close the game and remain perfect, staving off a tough Italy side 76-62 with NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki (21 points and 12 rebounds) and Chris Kaman (17 and 17) both collecting double-doubles. "What can you say about Dirk? He just did his thing again," said Kaman, who collected 10 points and eight rebounds in the fourth quarter. "In the fourth quarter we finished the game strong. Dirk had a good all-around game and I finally got it going a bit in the fourth quarter. We got a good win." Also in Group B, Nenad Krstic and Dusko Savanovic combined for 42 points to lead Serbia to their second straight win, a 92-77 decision over winless Latvia. Greece maintained their spotless record in Alytus's Group C with an 81-61 blowout of Finland. Ioannis Bourousis had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Nikos Zisis added 14 points for Greece. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro are both 1-1 after Bosnia's 94-86 victory as Mirza Teletovic hit for 23 points and Nihad Dedovic chipped in 19 points. Vlado Ilievski scored with 10 seconds left as Macedonia beat Croatia 78-76. Ilievski collected 18 points and Bo McCalebb led Macedonia with 19 points as both teams moved to 1-1. Utah Jazz star Andrei Kirilenko scored 20 points to lead 2007 European champions Russia to their second consecutive win, beating Georgia 65-58 in Group D in Klaipeda. Slovenia are also 2-0 after edging past Ukraine 68-64 with Mirza Begic scoring 14 points and Erazem Lorbek adding 13 points. Bulgaria notched their first win in the competition by beating Belgium 68-65 with Earl Rowland and Filip Videnov combining for 39 points.