Russia gave France everything it could handle Wednesday, leading for much of the game before Les Bleus pulled away late to remain unbeaten in EuroBasket group play with a 74-67 victory.
Nando De Colo led France (4-0) with 13 points, including a huge 3-pointer in the final three minutes. Former Spurs teammate Tony Parker had 12 but spent much of the stretch run on the bench. Boris Diaw had a modest game with five points and one rebound.
Russia led by double-digits midway through the first half before France began to fight back. France would outscore Russia by 15 over the final three quarters but wasn’t able to put the game away until the very end thanks in no small part to De Colo’s 3.