Nowitzki scored 20 of his points in the first quarter as the 2002 bronze medalists were never able to put away the motivated Japanese, who were led by 13 points by Kei Igarashi.

Japan used the three-point shot to stay in the game early as Takehiko Orimo's trey had the hosts to within 11-10. Germany led 13-12 before Nowitzki's three-pointer started a 17-5 run. The 7-footer was dominating in the first quarter, scoring 15 points as Germany led 34-20 after one period.

Two straight baskets by Ademola Okulaja opened the cushion to 38-20. Germany were ahead 46-32 with 55 seconds left in the half when Nowitzki went down hard and got up limping. He later was holding his left hand when he went to the bench.

Japan were able to close to within 10 points - 47-37 - on two Kei Igarashi free throws. But Sven Schultze's three-pointer at the buzzer pushed the lead to 50-37 going into the locker room.

Steffen Hamann's layup gave Germany their biggest lead of the game 61-42. But Dirk Bauermann's team went the final 5:27 of the third quarter without a basket as Japan fought their way back into the match. Kosuke Takeuchi's driving dunk down the lane with 34 seconds made it just an eight-point game at 64-56.

Germany were up 66-56 after three periods.

Four straight points off the bench by Guido Gruenheid put the Germans back in control. Demond Greene's three-pointer with 6:35 made it 75-60 and Zeljko Pavlicevic's team would not get closer to 11 points the rest of the way.