Nowitzki proves too much for Yao, China

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Nowitzki proves too much for Yao, China

Associated Press
Posted: 27 minutes ago



NANJING, China (AP) - Yao Ming's back! Too bad Dirk Nowitzki had to spoil the party.

Yao scored 11 points for China in his return from a four-month layoff because of a foot injury, losing 82-73 Friday to Germany in a warmup for the World Championships.
Nowitzki racked up 27 points, including 18 in the final quarter, scoring nearly at will against Yao and almost every other Chinese player.

Yao fired up early, winning a huge cheer from the home crowd with a mighty slam at the start of the first quarter.

With Yao back, China looked like a completely different team from the one that got slammed 119-73 by the United States on Monday.

"Obviously Yao Ming is a great player. He's one of the best centers in the world, but I was very impressed with the whole team," German player Patrick Femerling said. "They're very mobile, agile and versatile players."

Femerling added 10 points for the European championship runners-up. Nowitzki, who had a 12 rebounds, started the night looking a little rusty and needed time to find his rhythm.

Germany took a 58-49 lead into the fourth quarter. China tried to keep things close, but the Dallas Mavericks star, who gave Yao of the Houston Rockets a playful slap on the chest at the start, dominated.

"He's so good in one-on-one situations, he can always get a shot off," Germany coach Dirk Bauermann said. "And he knows when his best is needed the most. That was vintage Dirk Nowitzki."

China coach Jonas Kazlauskaz said he expects better results once Yao gets more practice with his teammates.

"With Yao on the court, the rest of the team also began to improve," Kazlauskaz said. "Still we have some problems, but it was much better."