INDIANAPOLIS -- Yugoslavia's run of poor starts ended and that meant an end to Brazil's great start at the World Championships.

With four new starters -- including two NBA stars and a recent draft pick -- Yugoslavia handed Brazil its first loss of the tournament Tuesday, 90-69.

Yugoslavia, the defending champion and holder of a record four gold medals, found itself in a hole at the start of every game, save a blowout over Angola in the opener.

Yugoslavia coach Svetislav Pesic had answered media criticism before Tuesday's game by saying that keeping Sacramento Kings teammates Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic out of the starting lineup was not the reason for the team's surprisingly mediocre performance.

With Divac, Stojakovic and Milos Vujanic, a second-round draft pick of the New York Knicks, on the floor at the beginning, Yugoslavia (3-2) looked like the team many picked to challenge the United States for the gold medal.

The three combined for 16 points in Yugoslavia's game-opening 22-6 run that had matters all but settled within the opening six minutes.

''We had noticed it had been a problem so we wanted to address the issue,'' said Stojakovic, who led Yugoslavia with 19 points. ''We really made an effort to start out strong and aggressive on offense and defense. When we do that on both ends, we know we'll play a good game.''

The losses to Spain and Puerto Rico seemed a long time ago as Yugoslavia opened a 46-28 halftime lead.

Brazil (4-1) entered the game averaging 91 points, but Yugoslavia contested every shot and dominated the boards, finishing with a 33-23 rebound advantage.

Pesic said the change in the starting lineup was all about one thing.

''The decision was based only on defense,'' he said. ''We wanted as quick a defense as we could to help control their guards. Vlade controlled down low and that's what helped us win.''

Brazil wasn't the only undefeated team to fall Tuesday as Puerto Rico beat Spain 73-65. Argentina, however, kept its record perfect with an 86-77 victory over Germany. The only other unbeaten, the United States, beat New Zealand on Tuesday night. China fell to Russia on Tuesday night as well.

Also Tuesday, Canada beat Venezuela 98-97 to take 13th place and Algeria beat Lebanon 100-70 for 15th.

The top four from each six-team group advance to the quarterfinals. In Group E, Spain, Brazil and Puerto Rico have clinched and will be joined by the winner of the Yugoslavia-Turkey game. In Group F, the United States and Argentina are in while the other four all have a chance to advance through tiebreakers.

Milan Gurovic had 15 points for Yugoslavia, while Vujanic, Marko Jaric and Dejean Bodiroga each added 10. Divac finished with seven points, eight rebounds and five assists.

''Once we got going we kept going,'' Stojakovic said. ''Now we have to stay focused on doing that.''

Marcel Machado had 15 points for Brazil, which had won its last three games by a total of nine points.

''Some stress comes with winning some games,'' Brazil coach Helio Garcia said. ''This is a team that can have trouble with motivation and that can lead to the problem of not playing together.''

Russia 95, China 68
Igor Koudeline scored 17 points and had five of Russia's 14 3-pointers in a 95-68 victory over China on Tuesday night in the second round of the World Championships.

Russia (2-3) kept alive its hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals by staying outside against China and 7-foot-5 Yao Ming. Russia plays Germany on Wednesday in its final second-round game, and even a victory in that game doesn't guarantee it would move on because of potential tiebreakers.

Russia finished 14-for-31 from 3-point range -- well above its 8-for-25 average over the first four games, numbers it reached by the end of the third quarter.

Vassili Karassev had 21 points for Russia and Nikita Morgunov had 18, including going 4-for-5 on 3s. Koudeline finished 5-for-10 from long range.

Menk Bateer led China (1-4) with 18 points and Yao, the NBA's overall No. 1 draft pick by the Houston Rockets, finished with 13, six in the last quarter when Russia's lead was never less than 18 points.

Russia, which scored the game's first seven points and opened a 21-5 lead, was able to win despite serious foul trouble. In a 10-minute span starting in the middle of the third quarter, nine of 10 fouls called against Russia were either a player's fourth or fifth foul. Four Russians fouled out and the final foul total was 31-18.

Puerto Rico 73, Spain 65
Antonio Latimer scored 10 points over the game's final 2:13 -- double his total for the previous four games of the tournament -- and Puerto Rico (4-1) closed the game with a 12-4 run.

It was the second impressive win in as many days for Puerto Rico, which beat defending champion Yugoslavia 85-83 on Monday.

Latimer and Carlos Arroyo, who plays for the Denver Nuggets, each had 18 points for Puerto Rico.

Pau Gasol, the NBA's rookie of the year with the Memphis Grizzlies, had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Spain (4-1).

Argentina 86, Germany 77
Andres Noccioni scored 19 points and Argentina (5-0) held Germany to one field goal over a 14-minute span in the first half.

Dirk Nowitzki, an NBA All-Star with the Dallas Mavericks, entered the game as the tournament's leading scorer with a 26.3-point average. He hit all 15 of his free throw attempts but was just 3-of-17 from the field and finished with 21 points for Germany (3-2).

Turkey 86, Angola 66
Mirsad Turkcan scored 26 points and Ibrahim Kutluay added 23 to lead Turkey (2-3), which only led 41-38 at halftime. Miguel Lutonda had 16 points for Angola (1-4), which had eight points and nine turnovers in the third quarter.

Canada 98, Venezuela 97
Michael Meeks scored the final six points, including the go-ahead basket with seven seconds to go, for Canada (2-3), which had its worst finish in 12 World Championships appearances.

Algeria 100, Lebanon 70
Milcud Doubal scored 30 points to lead Algeria (1-4), which trailed 43-42 at halftime. Fady El Khatib had 22 points for Lebanon (0-5) in the matchup of teams making their first appearance in the World Championships.