Dirk Nowitzki, Germany Lose Heartbreaker to Italy

Make this 3 games in a row that Dirk Nowitzki and Germany has lost in EuroBasket 2015.

Coming into the game, Germany and Italy was both sitting at 1-2 with the danger of falling to 1-3, thus facing a must-win game in their last matchup on Thursday.

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Germany found themselves playing one of their better games standing at a 10 point lead in the third quarter. I, along with the German crowd, thought this is where Germany would pull away but Danilo Gallinari had other plans. Under the leadership of Gallinari, Marco Belinelli, and Andrea Bargnani, Italy forced themselves into a tied ball game in the last few minutes of the fourth.

Down by two, Gallinari drained a contested jumper to tie the game with 4 seconds remaining on the clock. Even though Dennis Schroder had the hot hand, I expected Dirk to get the last shot. I was wrong, as Schroder drove the lane and missed the game winning shot.

In overtime, it was pretty much all Italy with a few questionable no-calls on the last couple of German possessions. A German home court advantage was something that didn’t exist.

Nowitzki finished the game with 14 points and 10 boards in 28 minutes. Schroder led the way for Germany with 29 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds. On the Italian side it was Gallinari that led the way with 25 points and 9 boards. Belinelli and Bargnani both finished with 17 points each. See full box score here.

On a side note, we seen the hustle and passion of Dirk come out as he wrestled with Gallinari to the ground fighting for the ball. The German crowd was on their feet while the Mavs fans back home held their breath.

Germany now faces a must-win tomorrow as they face Spain at 11:45AM EST on ESPN3.

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