PARIS — Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner scored 18 points and nabbed three steals to lead Germany over Greece 76-63 and advance to the Olympic basketball semifinals for the first time.

The Germans overcame a sluggish start, but advanced, and on Thursday, and will face host France, an 82-73 winner against Canada in another quarterfinals matchup.

Dennis Schroder added 13 points and eight assists and Magic center/forward Moe Wagner, Franz’s brother, contributed eight points and five rebounds for the reigning World Cup champions.

Germany’s previous best finish at the Olympics was seventh place in 1992.

Germany is unbeaten at the Paris Games after going 3-0 in the group stage.

“I think everybody on the team knows that we’ve got a special group, and I want to get the most out of this,” said Franz Wagner, who the Magic in July signed to a five-year contract extension worth at least $224 million.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points for Greece, which was denied its first semifinals berth in Antetokounmpo’s first Olympics appearance.

Greece had 15 turnovers, leading to 20 points for Germany.

Wagner entered the quarterfinals averaging a team-high 22 points per game but struggled to get going.

Greece led by 12 at one point — the first time Germany had trailed by 10 or more points in the tournament. But Germany settled in and used a big third quarter to take a seven-point lead into the fourth. Germany started the final period on a 13-5 run to increase its lead to 72-57, with 1:50 remaining.