Steve Wyche of the Washington Post reports that not only is Germany?s Dirk Nowitzki the best player at the World Championships, he was almost good enough to beat Team USA all by himself.

The Dallas Maverick forward scored 34 points and actually had his German team in the lead in the third quarter against the Americans. Team USA's Paul Pierce rose up when Nowitzki wore down and the U.S. squad emerged from a prolonged scare to defeat Germany, 104-87.

Pierce finished with 26 points, scoring 15 of those during the third quarter when Team USA went from a 67-65 deficit to a 77-67 lead entering the fourth quarter. "In the first half I was frustrated with the way I was playing," said Pierce. "The first half I settled for the three-pointer instead of driving to the basket. I'm able to adjust in the middle of the game and I was able to get going, give my team some confidence, give them some momentum."

In the fourth quarter, the Americans pulled away racing to a 22 point lead as Nowitzki ran out of gas. After three quarters of carrying the German team, he could only muster four points on free throws in the fourth. "Dirk's the one, two and three option on that team," said U.S. forward Michael Finley, who had 21 points. "We just wanted to eliminate his touches [in the second half]. We knew when he got the ball good things were happening for him so we tried to deny him the ball and when he got it, contest it."

The United States (2-0) will play its first-round finale Saturday against China, which defeated Algeria 96-82 tonight behind 38 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocked shots by 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming. Though China isn't expected to test the United States like Germany did, U.S. Coach George Karl said, "I think we're going to be in two, three, four more games like this."