Jasikevicius, widely regarded as one of Europe's best players, fought off a knee injury to collect 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a dominating win for Lithuania. Rimantas Kaukenas added 14 points while Linas Kleiza and Darius Songalia each had 12 points and Ramunas Siskauskas added 10.
"This was a difficult game for us. It was the start of the European championship and against a very strong Turkey team. They are a great team and have one of the best coaches in Europe,” said Lithuania coach Ramunas Butautas. Butautas' team out-rebounded Turkey 42-31, off-setting a shaky showing from beyond the three-point arc as the Lithuanians made just six of 18 shots. Turkey, which was led by 18 points from Hidayet Turkoğlu and 17 from captain İbrahim Kutluay, led 10-5 in the early stages.
The “12 Giant Men,” as the Turkish team is called, trailed 63-48 after three periods and eventually closed to within 10 points on two occasions, but Jasikevicius, Songalia and Kleiza all hit three-pointers down the stretch to keep Turkey down.
Turkey coach Bogdan Tanjevic said Lithuania belongs among the favorites of the tournament, adding: "We found them on a roll tonight. I think they are one of the best teams in Europe, and they played a great game tonight. They showed their talent and beat us in every aspect." Kutluay said, “We wanted to start the tournament with a victory. We lost the first game but the tournament is not over for us. We still have two more games. We just have to move past this game tonight and learn from out mistakes."
In the other Group C game, Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points and pulled in 11 rebounds as Germany took advantage of overtime to beat the Czech Republic 83-78.
Elsewhere
Tony Parker scored 16 as France held off Poland 74-66, and a last-second three-pointer by Jaka Lakovic lifted Slovenia over Olympic runner-up Italy 69-68 in Group D at Alicante.
Defending champion Greece opened with a 76-66 win over Israel in a Group A match in Granada, where Andrei Kirilenko's 24 points and 12 rebounds put Russia over Serbia 73-65.
NBA All-Star forward Paul Gasol scored 19 as Spain routed Portugal 82-56 in Seville to begin its campaign to become the third country to claim the European trophy while holding the world title. And Latvia surprised Croatia 85-77 in the other Group B match.
Today's games at a glance
19:00 Israel vs. Serbia at Granada
19:00 Lithuania vs. Germany at Mallorca
20:00 Portugal vs. Latvia at Sevilla
20:00 Slovenia vs. France at Alicante
21:30 Russia vs. Greece at Granada
21:30 Czech Rep vs. Turkey at Mallorca
22:30 Croatia vs. Spain at Sevilla
22:30 Poland vs. Italy at Alicante
Live on NTV today
19:00 Lithuania-Germany
21:30 Czech Republic-Turkey
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