World champions Spain destroyed Portugal 82-56 on an emotionally-charged opening night in Group B in Seville.

With Jorge Garbajosa playing despite failing to appear in any of their warm-up games for the EuroBasket – he only received a special medical insurance policy at the weekend – the host team made quick work of the Portuguese who are playing in their first EuroBasket in more than 50 years.

When the Toronto Raptor Garbajosa stepped onto the floor for the first time late in the first quarter, there was rapturous applause.
 
The NBA team had initially not given their consent for Garbajosa to play, not believing his injuries had healed enough following an operation at the end of March. But in the end, they relented when he obtained the policy.

Their Iberian rivals did put up some resistance in the first quarter and trailed just 16-13, but the wheels then came off.

Rudy Fernandez buried a jump shot, the first of 16 straight points for the EuroBasket hosts.

The Portuguese drought lasted for nearly six minutes. When Jorge Coehlo finally stopped the rot with a basket, the minnows trailed 32-15 and the game was effectively over.

By half time, the lead was 46-21 and Spain cruised the rest of the way.

		Garbajosa's presence provided an emotional boost for Spain

Garbajosa played 16 minutes and scored eight points.

“We just came out to play strong, and we got the win,” said Marc Gasol, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. “It was important to have Jorge on the floor tonight, both for the game and the spirit.”

Spain played without Juan Carlos Navarro, who was earlier ruled out for three games with a leg injury. But they didn’t need him.

Fernandez, one of the leading players in Europe, started in his place and had seven points before the break.

Portugal were totally overmatched.

“It was our first game in the European Championship,” said Sergio Ramos. “We were nervous, but tomorrow we will try to have a good reaction against Portugal.

“We have to be positive. We knew it was going to be a difficult game against the world champions.”

Pau Gasol set the tone for Spain with 13 first-half points – nine in the first quarter. He finished with a game-high 19.

No other player reached double figures, but every Spanish player who dressed had at least one bucket.

As for Portugal, their shot selection in the first half left much to be desired, and the number of trips they took to the free throw line was evidence.

While Spain worked the ball inside and drew fouls – they were 12 of 16 (75%) at the charity stripe in the first half - Portugal did not even attempt a single shot at the line.

“We played a lot better in the preparation game against Spain,” Ramos said.

“On defense, we caused them a lot of problems then, but not today. On offense then, we played better.

“We had a lot of turnovers tonight and on defense, we weren’t as intense as we needed to be, so we deserved to be down by 25 points at half-time.”

“Congrats to Spain."

World champions Spain will be huge favorites against Iberian rivals Portugal in the Group B opener for both sides in Seville.

Seasoned campaigners in international competition, the Spanish are loaded with talent from top to bottom, with the inspirational big man Pau Gasol their guiding light.

Spain have already qualified for next year's Olympics by virtue of their world title, but this EuroBasket is important because it's being played on home soil.

Portugual are in the EuroBasket for the first time since 1951 and are one of the three minnows, with the Czech Republic and Poland the others. .

Will they have enough firepower to compete against against a Spanish team that has won 26 games since their bronze medal defeat to France at EuroBasket 2005?

		If Portugal are to have a chance they will need a big game from Francisco Jordao.

Last Time Out: Spain beat France 87-72 in their last warm-up game ahead of the EuroBasket. The Portuguese reached this tournament by finishing top of their qualifying group which included Israel, FYR Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina - three teams that reached the final phase of the additional qualifying tournament. They beat Israel, the team that won the qualifying tournament, twice. That was last year, however. Valentyn Melnychuk's team lost to Spain in their friendly during the build-up to this event. The contest was very even for three quarters before the World Champions pulled away for an 82-65 triumph.

Key Match-up: Portugal will have to get a strong game defensively, and on the boards from all of their big men to have a chance against Spain. With that in mind, Francisco Jordao will have to do a lot of the work in the low post trying to limit Gasol's effectiveness. The problem for Portugal is, however, that Spain are not a one-man team and have a lot of quality on the front line so if Gasol struggles, which isn't likely, someone else will step up.

Statistics: The main statistic Portugal will want to focus on is the score - keep it as low as possible. If the score is low, that means they are maximizing time on their possessions, taking care of business on the defensive glass and doing a good job of controlling the tempo. Spain will prefer an uptempo game with their fantastic backcourt.

X-Factor: It took Spain forever to win a gold medal and now that they have, one has to wonder if the hunger for more success is still there. Even if they come out flat, it's hard to see the Spanish, with a big homecourt advantage, slipping up in this one. 

Speaking out: "I'm really thankful of being able to play with my National Team because it is something that really revitalizes me and fills me up with good and positive energy. It's a pleasure to be able to join my teammates because here, we really enjoy basketball and this team can aspire to everything. (Playing in Spain) is one of strongest weapons, it's a great atmosphere although our aim that we have imposed on ourselves is to go game by game, winning in order to reach the dream to be fighting in Madrid on September 16 for the gold medal" - Spain superstar Pau Gasol