INDIANAPOLIS -- Just when Dirk Nowitzki and Germany were making things a little too hairy, Paul Pierce saved the United States from what could have been a historic loss.

	Paul Pierce's scoring burst at the end of the third quarter ignited the U.S.

In a game that stayed surprisingly close for the better part of three quarters, Pierce scored eight of his 24 points in a 46-second span Friday night to spur the U.S. team to a 104-87 victory at the World Championships.

The United States improved to 55-0 when using teams of NBA players in international competitions, but this victory will be remembered as the first time the 2002 version of Team USA was tested.

"I'd like to thank Germany for giving us a tough test,'' said U.S. coach George Karl. "I have a feeling we're going to have two, three or four more of these types of games.''

The Americans looked bad at times in their halfcourt offense, couldn't defend Nowitzki on simple pick-and-rolls and were the less aggressive team for the first 29 minutes.

Germany led 67-65 after a 3-pointer by Marko Pesic with 3:27 left in the third quarter. That's when Pierce took over.

He scored on a drive with 3:02 left in the third to erase Germany's final lead, then put on a show by scoring eight points in the final 46 seconds -- a pair of foul shots, a three-point play off a drive to the basket and a steal at midcourt that led to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from 35 feet for a 77-67 lead entering the fourth.

Pierce had 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals in the quarter.

"I wanted to give my team some confidence,'' Pierce said. "It gave us a lot of momentum going into the fourth, and the rest of the way we just fed off of that.''

Ben Wallace provided the finishing touch -- and it was not a soft one. With the Americans ahead by 12 points with 8 minutes left, Wallace went up and soundly rejected a dunk attempt by Nowitzki.

Michael Finley scored the next eight U.S. points on a pair of 3-pointers and a breakaway layup as part of a 28-5 run that gave the Americans a 93-72 lead.

Nowitzki finished with 34 points and 10 rebounds.

Finley scored 21, Baron Davis added 13 and Jermaine O'Neal 11 for the United States, which finishes first-round play Saturday night against China.

The second round begins Monday, and there will be a new cast of opponents hoping to become the first to knock off the sport's Goliath.

"Ten years ago, I said it would take 50 years to happen. Maybe I was wrong at that time,'' German coach Henrik Dettmann said.

In the early going, the U.S. team quickly opened a double-digit lead as Pierce hit his second 3-pointer to make it 12-2, but the pace soon slowed as the Americans kept getting whistled for fouls. Pierce, Wallace and O'Neal had two fouls apiece before the game was 7 minutes old.

Germany trailed 29-21 after one quarter, and a pair of post-up jumpers by Nowitzki -- one over Shawn Marion, the other over Pierce -- made it 31-27.

Nowitzki found himself isolated against point guard Andre Miller on the left baseline late in the second quarter and converted it into a three-point play to cut the U.S. team's lead to 45-42.

Pesic hit a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left before halftime but failed to convert a chance for a four-point play, leaving the U.S. team ahead 50-49. Henrik Rodl made two foul shots with 0.3 seconds left to make it 52-51 at halftime.

Germany tied it early in the third, and a telling sequence came after Davis came up with a steal to halt a 2-on-1 break. Davis brought the ball all the way downcourt and tried unsuccessfully to dunk over 7-footers Nowitzki and Patrick Femerling.

The missed dunk led to a wide-open 3 in transition for Nowitzki.

Moments later, Nowitzki was fouled by Wallace on a 3-point attempt. He made all three shots to give Germany a 64-63 lead with 4:55 left in the third.

"We felt the whole game that we could beat them,'' Nowitzki said.