China Egdes Spain 59-55, Advances to Medal Round

China gained a spot in the quarterfinals with a 59-55 triumph over Dirk Nowitzki and Germany.

China jumped out to a 19-9 first quarter lead but lost the second quarter 22-8 to trail 31-27 at the half. China regained the lead 47-39 in the third quarter, then was outscored in the fourth quarter 16-12 but held on for its four-point victory.

Yao Ming outscored Nowitzki 25-24 but Nowitzki held the edge in rebounds 17-11. Yao hit 9 of 19 shots from the floor to 7 of 20 for Nowitzki.

Jianlian Yi (212-C/F-87) had a huge impact on the game, with 9 points on 3 of 8 shooting and 11 rebounds. He helped hold Nowitzki in check. We all know what Yao can do, but in this game Yi did what he needed to do.

Yi's performance kept him even with the LA Clippers' Chris Kaman, who had 10 points on 4 of 11 shooting and 12 rebounds.

China won this game with its ballhandling and defense. Germany does not have the best guards in the world but they are European guards. While Germany outrebounded China 47-42, China had only 9 turnovers to 14 for Germany.

China shot only 33 percent from the floor and Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Liu Wei and Li Nan shot a combined 3 for 27. But China held Germany to a horrible 29 percent shooting percentage, the key to its triumph.

Sun Yue played an excellent game with 5 points on 2 of 3 shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He showed why he could make it in the NBA as a defensive-minded shooting guard for the Lakers.

Wang Zhizhi played his reserve role with 5 points on 2 of 3 shooting, 1 rebound and 1 assist in 10 minutes. Germany made all 13 of its free throws, the only part of the game in which it truly excelled.

China will face Greece on Monday to determine third place in Group B. But this game is relatively meaningless since Lithuania and Argentina would be comparably strong opponents in the quarterfinals though Lithuania won their matchup 79-75.

China-- 19 8 20 12 59
Germany 9 22 8 16 55

Box Score:
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/BK/C73/BKM400B11.shtml#BKM400B11

Standings
Group A
Lithuania 4 0
Argentina 3 1
Croatia-- 2 2
Australia 2 2
Russia--- 1 3
Iran----- 0 4

Group B
USA---- 4 0
Spain-- 3 1
Greece- 2 2
China-- 2 2
Germany 1 3
Angola- 0 4