Spain's Pau Gasol holds the Most Valuable Player awards after Spain defeated Greece 70-47 to win the World Basketball Championships final in Saitama, Japan, yesterday. - Reuters

SAITAMA, Japan (AP):

With injured Pau Gasol cheering his teammates from the bench, Spain beat Greece 70-47 yesterday to claim its first basketball world championship.

The 7-foot Gasol led Spain (9-0) in scoring and rebounding throughout the tournament. When he broke his foot with about a minute left in the 75-74 semi-final win over Argentina, his team's gold-medal hopes dimmed considerably.

Especially considering a near perfect performance by Greece (8-1) in a 101-95 semi-final win over the United States. The European champions put on an impressive offensive and defensive display in getting to the final for the first time.

Felipe Reyes started in Gasol's place and had 10 points in the first half, one less than he had in the entire tournament. Reyes was limited to three games because of back problems.

Gasol's younger brother, Marc, gave Spain big minutes early in the middle. He had three rebounds in the game's first 17 minutes. He averaged 1.9 coming into yesterday's game.

Spain's way

Everything went Spain's way as they took a 43-23 half-time lead. Their other stars were playing at their normal level and the bench was playing well above its head.

Meanwhile, Greece looked nothing like the team that had received plaudits from around the world for the way it convincingly beat the United States.

Greece shot 63 per cent in the semi-final win. In the first half against Spain, the percentage was less than half that (31 per cent).

There was no big push from Greece in the third quarter. Gasol's teammates wouldn't allow it.

The lead was 54-34 with 10 minutes to go. It only got bigger, and Greece couldn't even score half as many points as it did against the United States.

Gasol came out of the players' tunnel before the game on crutches, wearing his red warm-up top and jeans. As he sat on the bench while the teams were warming up, Greece forward Sofoklis Schortsanitis and coach Panagiotis Yannakis came over to him for visits.

He was up and hopping on one foot for each huddle. Players hugged him or slapped hands with him at each time-out. They were winning this game for him.

Gasol, who plays for NBA team Memphis Grizzlies, averaged 21.3 points and 9.4 rebounds. He has a partial fracture in his left foot, an injury the Grizzlies said will require surgery.

Jorge Garbajosa, who signed with the Toronto Raptors this summer, and Juan Carlos Navarro, each had 20 points for Spain, which was fourth in 1982. Reyes finished with 10 points and Marc Gasol grabbed four more rebounds, but their play off the bench was much more than numbers.

Mihalis Kakiouzis had 17 points for Greece, which finished fourth in 1994 and 1998.

The United States won the bronze medal with a 96-81 victory over Argentina on Saturday.