INDIANAPOLIS -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points to lead Germany to an 88-76 victory Thursday over China -- victimized by a poor performance from Yao Ming -- on the opening day of the World Championships.

	China's Mengke Bateer is surrounded by Germany defenders as Germany posted an 88-76 victory.

Nowitzki, who led the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference semifinals, scored all his points in the first three quarters, went 10-for-18 from the field and helped Germany build a 24-point lead.

''I was trying to be aggressive on offense. That's the best part of my game,'' he said. ''They did a good job of finding me and I found my shot early. That was important to find my rhythm early.''

Yao, the No. 1 choice in the NBA draft by the Houston Rockets, was whistled for two fouls in the first two minutes and was immediately benched. The 7-foot-5 Yao returned with 5:30 left in the second period, but was never a factor.

Yao scored 16 points, 10 in the second half when the game was already out of reach.

Yao was unavailable for comment, but coach Wang Fei was disappointed with the early foul trouble.

''He has to pay attention to his fouls,'' he said. ''He's never played in the NBA. He's never practiced in the NBA. He has to work harder. He has to play defense to have a chance.''

The fans clearly came to see Yao, waving the Chinese flag and giving him a boisterous ovation each time his name was mentioned.

One of Yao's shots was blocked by Germany's Stephen Arigbabu midway through the fourth quarter. The ball went out of bounds, Yao got the ball in the low post and it was swatted away again, this time by Nowitzki.

Mengke Bateer led China with 23 points, Hu Weidong had 14 and Lin Nan 13.

Next up for Germany is the U.S. national team Friday. Nowitzki scored 23 points in an exhibition defeat Sunday. The Germans came within six points of the U.S. team with two minutes left, but the Americans won 91-73.

''We've got to step our games up if we want to beat them this time,'' he said. ''But we got what we wanted today.''

China never found its shot after the first quarter, making only 31 percent in the second quarter. Germany scored the final nine points for a 45-31 halftime lead.

Nowitzki gave the Germans their first double-digit lead when he converted a steal into a layup. He had 13 points in the second half, sinking one long jumper after another.

Stefano Garris had 16 points for Germany.

Neither China nor Germany has never won a World Championships medal.

Yugoslavia keeps on rolling
No country has had more success in the World Championships than Yugoslavia.

It opened defense of its record fourth gold medal Thursday with a 113-63 thrashing of Angola, not changing a single opinion that Yugoslavia is the favorite to find a way to hand the United States its first international defeat while using NBA players.

There was no way to get anyone from Yugoslavia to talk about a matchup with the U.S. team down the road in the 16-tournament. Neither the coach nor any of the players, including the five who also play in the NBA, would even approach the subject.

''We were waiting for this game and are now looking forward to facing quality opponents and hopefully keep playing as well as we did today,'' Yugoslavia coach Svetislav Pesic said.

Vlade Divac, who had nine points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes, held his ground when asked about the U.S. team.

''We're not even in the same group,'' the Sacramento Kings' center said. ''When the time comes, we'll talk about them.''

Angola coach Mario Palma couldn't wait, however.

''Yugoslavia is one of the better teams in the world and the final will be the United States and Yugoslavia,'' he said. ''They are near the U.S. Just wait for that final, it will be a great game.''

Peja Stojakovic, Divac's teammate at Sacramento, had 13 points to lead eight players in double figures for Yugoslavia, which took control against Angola with a 16-0 run that gave it a 44-16 lead with 4:14 left in the first half.

Yugoslavia, which led 52-23 at halftime, dominated inside against Angola, shooting 64.6 percent (42-for-65) and finishing with a 41-29 rebound advantage led by Vladimir Radmanovic of the Seattle SuperSonics, who had 10.

Stojakovic was 3-for-5 from 3-point range, and Yugoslavia finished 9-for-13 from beyond the arc.

''It was important for us to play a good 40 minutes,'' Divac said.

Yugoslavia's previous world titles came in 1970, 1978 and 1990. Yugoslavia beat Russia for the gold medal in 1998, and only three of those players, none from the NBA, are on the team at the tournament this year.

This is Angola's third World Championships and it now has a 3-11 record in the event.

Still, there was plenty to be taken from the 50-point defeat.

''It's always good to go against the players with international and NBA experience,'' said Joaquim Gomes, who averaged 5.4 points and 4.0 rebounds for Valparaiso last season. ''I have a lot to learn and they can help me a lot.''

Valter Monteiro had 16 points for Angola, while Gomes had eight points and six rebounds.

Argentina runs away from Venezuela
Emanuel Ginobili scored 19 points, and Pepe Sanchez had nine points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Argentina in its 107-72 victory over Venezuela.

Ginobili, who signed with the San Antonio Spurs last month, had 15 points in the first half and finished with five assists. Sanchez, who played at Temple, was 4-for-6 from the field and played just 18 minutes.

Argentina pulled away from a 49-35 halftime lead by outscoring Venezuela 32-12 in the third quarter.

Victor Diaz and Richard Lugo each had 12 points for Venezuela.

Spain routs Canada with second-half blitz
Pau Gasol scored 19 points to lead Spain to an 85-54 victory over Canada.

Spain took control in the third quarter, outscoring Canada 21-6 to take a 61-35 lead. Gasol, the NBA's rookie of the year this season with the Memphis Grizzlies, scored six of Spain's first eight points in the quarter, then picked up his third foul and went to the bench with 4:16 left.

Carlos Marco picked up the slack for Spain, however, hitting two 3-pointers in the next two minutes and then added another at the start of the fourth quarter for a 64-35 lead.

Canada was just 3-for-13 from the field and committed eight turnovers in the 10-minute quarter, enduring one scoreless stretch of 4:53.

Gasol was 7-for-10 from the field, had five rebounds and blocked three shots. Marco finished with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range, while Juan Carlos Navarro added 14 points.

Rowan Barrett, who played at St. John's, and Kevin Jobity, who played at Niagara, each had nine points for Canada.

The matchup was expected to decide who would finish second in the four-team group to defending champion Yugoslavia. Spain and Canada have made a combined 18 appearances in the World Championships and neither has ever won a medal.

New Zealand rallies to beat Russia, 90-81
Peco Cameron had 22 points and eight rebounds for New Zealand, which trailed 57-38 with 7:54 left in the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Cameron, his fourth of the game, gave New Zealand its first lead since the first quarter, 77-75 with 3:24 left.

Two free throws by Sergei Tchikalkine tied the game for the final time with 1:25 left. Mark Dickel, who played at Nevada-Las Vegas, then hit a 3 with 1:12 to play to give New Zealand the lead for good and start its closing 11-2 run.

Sean Marks, who plays for the Miami Heat, had 21 points and Kirk Penney, who plays for Wisconsin, finished with 19.

Rouslan Avleev had 18 points for Russia, which has finished second in the last two World Championships, losing to the United States in 1994 and Yugoslavia in 1998.

Klafke, Brazil spoil Lebanon's debut
Rogerio Klafke scored 22 points as Brazil spoiled Lebanon's debut in the World Championships. Brazil closed the first quarter on a 14-4 run, then made five of its 14 3-pointers in the second quarter in taking a 52-33 halftime lead.

Joseph Vogel, who played at Colorado State and was drafted by Seattle in 1996, led Lebanon with 21 points.

Late free throws allow Puerto Rico to win
Elias Ayuso scored 22 points, and Puerto Rico made four free throws in the final minute to hold off Turkey.

Raymond Dalmau made two free throws with 12 seconds left to give Puerto Rico a 78-75 and the final chance for Turkey, making its World Championships debut, ended when Hedo Turkoglu's 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Turkoglu, who plays for the Sacramento Kings, led Turkey with 20 points.