Despite my initial assumption that Germany was likely eliminated from EuroBasket 2015 after a collapse against Italy, they came into Thursday’s game with a simple mission. If they beat Spain they would make the next round, if they lost they were done.
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Now, they knew that would be a tall order. Spain is the most talented team in the tournament and they had underperformed to this point. With so much experience and poise it was tough to imagine Spain losing in a win or go home situation. Still, this was a Spain team without Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio and Jose Calderon.