TURKEY BOUND – Dirk hits 20,000-point plateau; Rudy back for Portland

DALLAS (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Germany's Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points and 16 rebounds but the Dallas Mavericks fell at home on Wednesday night to the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers, 100-95.

Nowitzki, who is expected to play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, joined elite company during the game by surpassing 20,000 career points in the NBA.

He is the first European to achieve the feat and the 34th player in league history.

Only regular-season games count in the statistics.

Meanwhile, Spain's Rudy Fernandez played for Portland for the first time since having a back operation in early December

The guard, who was voted to the all-tournament team at last year's EuroBasket, underwent a microdiscectomy on December 8 because he had been experiencing pain in his leg.

He played 15 minutes on Wednesday and scored two points as the Blazers beat Milwaukee, 120-108.

The Blazers have reassigned Australia international point guard Pat Mills to the NBA Development League.

Mills, who played in one game for the Blazers, will rejoin the Idaho Stampede for their game on Friday against Reno.

He averaged 30.0 points and 7.5 assists in two earlier D-League games for the Stampede.

Other players who could be headed to the FIBA World Championship in Turkey were in action on Wednesday.

Here is a look at how some of them performed.

Greece

• Georgios Printezis - The Greek star had 17 points and seven rebounds as Unicaja Malaga got over the disappointment of missing out on the Copa del Rey in Spain by winning 73-71 at Lietuvos Rytas in the Euroleague.

Serbia

• Milos Teodosic - The Olympiacos point guard had nine assists to go with his eight points in the Reds' 81-60 win over visiting Partizan Belgrade.

Lithuania

• Linas Kleiza - The Olympiacos forward had 16 points in their win over Partizan.
• Rimantas Kaukenas - The Real Madrid guard scored 12 points in the Spanish giants’ 75-66 triumph at Armani Jeans Milano.

France

• Tony Parker - The San Antonio point guard played 41 minutes and scored 28 points in the Spurs 109-108 win at Oklahoma City in the NBA. Parker also handed out eight assists.

Argentina

• Manu Ginobili - The 32-year-old missed all 10 of his shots from the floor and scored just two points on a pair of free-throws in the Spurs' win over the Thunder.

Team USA

• Kevin Durant - The Oklahoma City star poured in 35 points but it wasn't enough as the Thunder lost to San Antonio in OT.
• Dwyane Wade - The Miami Heat guard had 35 points and nine assists in a 115-102 triumph at Golden State.
• Carmelo Anthony - The Team USA veteran scored 27 points for Denver in their 115-97 home triumph over Orlando.
• David Lee - Team USA hopeful David Lee had 24 points and nine boards and also hit the game-winning lay-up with 13 seconds remaining for the New York Knicks in their 93-92 victory at Philadelphia.
• Chris Paul - The New Orleans playmaker scored 15 points and dished out 15 assists in the Hornets' 108-94 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.

China

• Yi Jianlian - The New Jersey big man scored 19 points but grabbed just three rebounds as the Nets crashed to a 111-87 home defeat to Boston.

Turkey

• Ersan Ilyasova - The Milwaukee power forward made four of six shots from long range and finished with 24 points in Bucks' 120-108 defeat at Portland.

FIBA