Chinese player Yi Jianlian (R) fights for the ball against German national basketball team players including its top star Dirk Nowitzki (L) during the initial friendly match, which also served as a training match for both teams, in Hamburg on Friday night, August 17, 2007. [Photo: Osports.cn]

German national basketball team swept Chinese team 88-55 at a friendly match in Hamburg on Friday night, opening a good start for Germany's training session for European basketball championship in Spain next month.

The guest team, without NBA center Yaoming, failed to contain German top star Dirk Nowitzki, who seized 17 points in just 22-minute field time.

The newly-crowned NBA MVP led German team to settle the match with a sweeping victory in the second quarter, during which Yao's teammates merely got one shot and several other free shots.

The friendly match is also served as a training match for both teams. German started its training session of seven matches before they go to Spain for the European basketball championships due on Sept. 3-16, a tournament deciding the qualifications for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

The two teams will clash again in Aug. 19. After that, the Chinese team will fly to Turkey to fight a tournament of six national teams, including Serbia, Poland and Turkey.

Yao Ming, who is on his honeymoon trip to Europe, watched the match on the spot.