Jrue Holiday

Team USA won their first two Group C encounters, overcoming Serbia and South Sudan.

They face already-eliminated Puerto Rico on Saturday, and though they are assured of progression to the last eight, there is still plenty on the line for the USA.

Kerr's team must win by more than four points to be sure of clinching the top seed for the knockout stage, which would mean they would be drawn against the lowest-ranked team in the quarter-finals.

"We want the No. 1 seed," Kerr said. 

"It gives you the best matchup in the quarter-finals. So if we drop down to two or three – which I think is unlikely, but we've got to take care of our business – we possibly have a much tougher opponent."

Points differential is the primary tie-breaker to settle the seeds in the knockout stage. Canada and Germany both stayed perfect through their group campaigns, with the latter occupying the top seed as it stands with a differential of +43.

"The point differential is a big thing, and so even the first two games we were focusing on not taking our foot off like you do in the NBA sometimes," guard Derrick White added.

"So it's a little different than what we're used to, but that's all part of the tournament."

While Jrue Holiday nurses an injury, Anthony Davis is expected to feature for Team USA, while Kevin Durant is embracing his role as a super-sub.

"It's basketball," said veteran Durant.

"It really doesn't matter who starts. It's about really who finished the game, who put their impact on the game while they're in the game.

"So I just try to do my best to impact it any way I can."

Should the USA claim the top seed, they could go up against Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece, who beat Australia to finish ahead of Spain in Group C.

Greece have to wait on the result of Serbia v South Sudan in order to see if they will qualify.

The Americans scored a 97-78 victory at the Saitama Super Arena, putting a fourth successive gold medal at the Games within reach.

But at one stage in the second quarter Durant and co trailed 41-26, with the Australian Boomers making a fast and purposeful start to the semi-final that they could not maintain.

It was at the point the USA side fell 15 points behind that they took a timeout, and from that stage onwards they dominated, Durant leading the team with 23 points and nine rebounds.

Australia shot just 25 of 61 – 41 per cent – from the field, whereas USA managed 38 of 74 and dominated the boards 44-29 in what became a convincing victory.

"We've been down 15 in games before and came back," Durant said. "It doesn't matter what level it was at, or where it's at. A lot of guys have been in that position before. We know how to handle ourselves.

"We kept our composure and we knew that we could get back into the game pretty fast, if we got stops and got out and ran. So we've got to give credit to Australia because they came out and hit us with a nice haymaker, but we were able to get back up and get that lead back."

It came as no surprise to Durant that Australia began as they did.

"We knew Australia would come out fast and hit us with a nice punch. We know that teams want to get us down early, see how we respond," said the Brooklyn Nets star.

"A lot of these guys got continuity for years and years, so they know how to play with each other. I feel like a lot of teams are expecting us to fold early.

"We stuck with it, stuck with our principles, made a couple of switches on defence, and we were able to get some momentum going into the half. Guys came out with that intensity, making shots as well."

The 32-year-old Durant is chasing a third gold medal of his Olympic career, having played on the London 2012 and Rio 2016 teams.

For Jrue Holiday, who is coming off an NBA championship-winning season with the Milwaukee Bucks, this is a first Olympic experience.

Like Durant, he saw no need for panic after Australia began Thursday's semi-final so strongly.

By half-time, Australia's lead had been cut to just 45-42, and a 32-10 third quarter for the USA showed their firepower.

"I think we played the game long enough to know that there's always a chance," Holiday said. "So we took that six minutes in the second quarter and kind of ramped it up, and went into half-time in the position that we liked."

Australia have finished fourth in Olympic men's basketball four times, never going further and claiming a medal.

They will have a bronze-medal game to come in Tokyo and must pick themselves up to go again.

Jock Landale scored 11 points against the USA, and the Melbourne United star accepted it was tough for Australia to keep up their early high level.

"It's hard. It's really hard. They're great basketball players, they're smart basketball players," Landale said.

"They figure out what you're doing and they just find ways to exploit it. I think we started turning the ball over in that third quarter and they were just living in transition, and that's tough to beat. They're the most athletic guys in the world, so I think that's probably where we lost them."