Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 6-0 with a 120-109 victory Friday night over the Orlando Magic, who played their first game without injured All-Star Paolo Banchero.

The Cavs are the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. The last time Cleveland started 6-0 was in 2016 with LeBron James when it lost to Golden State in the NBA Finals. The club's best start was 8-0 in 1976.

The early meeting between Orlando and Cleveland was a rematch of last season's tense opening-round playoff series won by the Cavs in seven games.

Banchero is expected to miss at least a month - and maybe longer - with a torn right oblique. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft was on an early tear, averaging 29 points with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists before getting hurt Wednesday.

Orlando's Jalen Suggs scored a career-high 28 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists. Franz Wagner had 17 points.

The Magic hung around and were still within 10 late in the third quarter, when Cavs reserves Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill and Georges Niang all made 3-pointers in the final 2:17 to give Cleveland a 17-point lead going to the fourth.

Cleveland improved to 30-7 in Mitchell's last 37 regular-season games since January.

Thunder roll past Blazers to stay unbeaten

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points in 28 minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder remained perfect with a 137-114 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jalen Williams added 22 points for the Thunder and Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins each had 13 off the bench as Oklahoma City improved to 5-0.

Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points and Deandre Ayton added 14.

After the Blazers came back from down 17 to tie the game at 68 at the half, Oklahoma City outscored the Blazers 38-17 in the third quarter and Portland was never able to get back in it.

Wolves edge Nuggets in thriller

Anthony Edwards hit a go-ahead 7-foot floater with 25.7 seconds left, and Rudy Gobert iced the game with two free throws to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Denver Nuggets 119-116.

Edwards scored 29 points, Gobert had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Julius Randle added 23 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who recovered from a 25-3 fourth-quarter run by the Nuggets.

Nikola Jokić had 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds and hit two free throws with 2:30 left to put Denver up 116-109, before Minnesota roared back. Jokic had a chance to tie the game at 119, but Gobert forced an errant corner 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds to go.

Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 31 points and 11 rebounds in a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinal.

Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points for the Nuggets, who lost point guard Jamal Murray to the concussion protocol in the third quarter after colliding with Randle.

Christian Braun dunked over the 7-foot-1 Gobert with 5:14 left and got even closer to his face with a taunting scream that egged Gobert into grabbing Braun by the neck. The benches cleared, shouts were exchanged, and both players got a technical.

United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels from his team in the knockout stage of their Paris Olympics campaign.

Team USA stayed perfect by beating Puerto Rico 104-83 on Saturday, ensuring they sealed the top seed for the last eight.

That means the four-time reigning Olympic champions will take on the seventh seed, Brazil, for a place in the semi-finals.

Anthony Edwards led the USA with 26 points, while Joel Embiid chipped in with 15 and Kevin Durant delivered another fine substitute performance, scoring 11 points from the bench.

And while the USA have tallied up 317 points in their three wins so far, Kerr believes there is much more to come.

"I think we got done what we wanted to accomplish, winning all three games and securing the top seed," said Kerr.

"We know we have to play better. Part of this tournament is it gets harder as you go."

LeBron James added 10 points for the star-studded USA, and he knows it is now do-or-die.

"We know it's going to be difficult, it's going to be challenging," he said. "We better be ready to go."

In Group C's other game, Nikola Jokic scored 22 points and finished with 13 rebounds, while Bogdan Bogdanovic had 28 points, as Serbia saw off South Sudan 96-85.

While Serbia clinched the fourth seed to set up a meeting with Australia, South Sudan's inaugural Olympics campaign is over, with Greece scraping in as one of the two best third-placed teams.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's team will take on second seed Germany, who like the USA, won their three group games.

Anthony Edwards credited Karl-Anthony Towns after he halted his slump to keep the Minnesota Timberwolves alive in their Western Conference finals series against the Dallas Mavericks.

Towns scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half as Minnesota held off a late Dallas rally for a 105-100 road win, forcing a Game 5 in Minneapolis on Thursday.

That came after a difficult start to the series for the four-time All-Star, with coach Chris Finch saying it was "hard to watch" his struggles in Game 3.

Towns shot just 27.8 per cent in the series' first three games, but was 9 of 13 from the floor and made 4 of 5 from 3-point range on Tuesday.

Edwards, who narrowly missed out on a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, said Towns was the primary reason the Timberwolves retained hope of an NBA Finals berth. 

"Everything came together for him; he was super confident," Edwards said of Towns. 

"He played exceptionally well, and he came through big-time. He was the reason we won tonight."

Finch echoed Edwards' praise, saying: "KAT's a great player. His struggles were not going to last forever. He got himself going. 

"Even when he got deep in foul trouble, we left him out there, just let him roll, and he played smart, played under control, rebounded really well for us, executed defensively. We're really proud of him. Tonight was a great step for him."

While it was Towns' efforts that gave Minnesota a lead to defend, it was Edwards who made certain of the victory with a mid-range jumper after the Mavs pulled within three points just over a minute before the buzzer. 

Towns, who fouled out with one minute and 38 seconds on the clock, said of his team-mate's game-sealing shot: "I was on the bench and had a front-row seat. I feel like he was visualising that make and he got to exactly the spot he wanted to.

"I'm honoured to be playing with my brother here, seeing him every day put the work in, and I knew when he got to that shot it was a high likelihood he was going to make that."

Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving each scored 33 points to send the Dallas Mavericks a win away from reaching the NBA Finals with Sunday's 116-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. 

WIth its star guard tandem leading the way, the fifth-seeded Mavericks dominated the game's final five minutes to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Dallas can eliminate the third-seeded Timberwolves and earn its first trip to the Finals since 2011 when it hosts Game 4 on Tuesday.

No team in NBA history has come back to win a best-of-seven play-off series after losing the first three games.

That's the challenge now facing Minnesota, which clung to a 104-102 lead with five minutes left before the Mavericks seized control for good with a 14-1 run.

Anthony Edwards finished with 26 points for the Timberwolves, but just four of those came in the pivotal fourth quarter. Minnesota's other All-Star, Karl-Anthony Towns, was held scoreless in the final period after recording 14 points over the first three quarters.

Irving had 14 fourth-quarter points and six during the deciding spurt, which he began with a driving layup that tied the game at 104-104 with 4:35 left. P.J. Washington then sent Dallas ahead by knocking down a 3-pointer on its next possession, and the Mavericks held Minnesota without a field goal until Edwards scored the game's final points on a layup with 15.3 seconds left.

Dallas built a lead as large as 12 points in the first half and went into the break with a 60-52 advantage behind Doncic's 15 points and 14 from Irving. The Mavericks were up by 10 near the midway stage of the third quarter before Minnesota reversed momentum with an 13-1 run.

Edwards had eight straight points during the flurry, along with an assist on Naz Reid's layup that gave the Timberwolves a 79-77 edge with 3:54 left in the third. 

Three-point shooting also played a part in Dallas' victory, as the Mavs finished 14 of 28 from beyond the arc. The Timberwolves were 9 of 30 from 3-point range, with Towns missing all eight of his attempts. 

Anthony Edwards could only stand back and watch as MVP Nikola Jokic inspired the Denver Nuggets in their victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On the night he received the Michael Jordan Trophy after being named the NBA's MVP for the third time, Jokic scored 40 points and provided 13 assists in a 112-97 win.

It was a victory that put the reigning NBA champions within touching distance of the Western Conference finals.

And Edwards, who finished with 18 points and nine assists for Minnesota, could not even muster the energy to be angry.

He said: "I just laugh. That's all I can do.

"He's good, man. I think I said that after Game 1 when we won, and Game 2, he's the MVP. He's the best player in the NBA.

"He showed it the last three games, three games in a row. He was special tonight. I've got to give him his flowers. He was that guy tonight."

Denver coach Michael Malone said: "He did everything for us tonight, and it was fun to watch."

Jamal Murray chipped in with 16 points for the Nuggets, though he was happy to hand responsibility to Jokic.

"If Jokic's scoring like that, there's no need to do anything special," Murray said.

"He's amazing, just the way he picks apart the game and reads the game and trusts his teammates.

"I'm guessing that for the big fella getting the trophy tonight probably motivated him a little bit. Just being at home was a lot of fun, the place was rocking, kind of felt the energy and he definitely had it going."

The Nuggets lead the series 3-2 heading into Game 6.

Nikola Jokić had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists and Jamal Murray bounced back with 24 points as the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 117-90 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and Aaron Gordon had 13 for the Nuggets, who cruised to an easy win on the road after dropping the first two games at home.

They are the 30th team in the history of the NBA playoffs to lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series. Five of them have rallied to win, most recently the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in 2021.

Game 4 is Sunday in Minneapolis.

Murray totalled just 25 points on 9-of-32 shooting over the first two games but was 11 of 21 in this one.

Denver shot 14 of 29 from 3-point range with Gordon and Porter combining to hit 7 of 9.

Anthony Edwards was held in check with 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 for a Wolves team that suffered its first loss in seven playoff games.

Minnesota shot 10 of 33 from long range and fell behind by as many as 34 points down the stretch.

Pacers rally to cut deficit to 2-1

Andrew Nembhard drilled a 31-foot, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Tyrese Haliburton had 35 points with six 3-pointers as the Indiana Pacers rallied for a 111-106 win over the banged-up New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Knicks lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday in Indianapolis. New York held a nine-point lead with 9:45 remaining but was unable to hold the lead with star guard Jalen Brunson slowed by a right foot injury.

Nembhard scored all five of his points in the final minute, connecting on a long 3 as the shot clock expired to give the Pacers a 109-106 lead.

Brunson missed a potential tying 3 with 14 seconds left and finished with 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting.

Donte DiVincenzo scored 35 points and was 7 for 11 on 3s, while Alec Burks, who came in having played just 1 minute in the playoffs, scored 14 points in 21 minutes for the Knicks, who played without starting forward OG Anunoby.

It’s unclear whether Anunoby can recover from his injured left hamstring to play Sunday.,

Haliburton triggered Indiana’s comeback in the fourth quarter. He completed a three-point play and then made back-to-back layups to make it 98-96. After Brunson made a free throw, Pascal Siakam tied the score with a three-point play.

The teams traded the lead four more times, with Brunson’s 3 tying it at 106 with 42 seconds remaining.  

Karl-Anthony Towns has pledged the Minnesota Timberwolves will not waste a golden opportunity in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets, having seized a 2-0 lead.

Towns joined Anthony Edwards in putting up 27 points as the third-seeded Timberwolves claimed a comfortable 106-80 win on Monday, two days on from a 106-99 Game 1 victory.

Nikola Jokic was held to just 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting as Minnesota produced another outstanding defensive performance, while Jamal Murray only managed eight points in 36 minutes.

Minnesota return home for the first of back-to-back games at Target Center on Friday, knowing they have the chance to finish the series off on their own turf.

It is not an opportunity Towns intends to see pass them by.

"We're extremely honoured and blessed that we have this opportunity to go home up 2-0," Towns said. 

"But we're humble in this approach. We understand that we've put ourselves in a great position, but as great as the position we are in is, it could be very bad if we don't win our homestand.

"So, we've just got to go out there, take care of business, do what we do, play defense at a high level, and execute even at a higher level because the defending champions, you can't give them a minute of slippage at all in the game."

Minnesota should be further boosted by Friday with Rudy Gobert set to return after missing Monday's game to attend the birth of his first child.

Given the Timberwolves were without the Defensive Player of the Year favourite, coach Chris Finch believes shutting down the reigning NBA champions ranked among their best defensive efforts this season.

"We've had some really, really good defensive efforts this year but that has to be right up there with the best of them," Finch said. 

"On the ball, off the ball, the physicality, the execution of the gameplan… we just really locked in on defense."

Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns each had 27 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves frustrated the Denver Nuggets once again to take a stunning 2-0 series lead on the reigning NBA champions.

Monday's 106-80 rout put the third-seeded Timberwolves in firm control of this Western Conference semifinal series, as they'll host the next two games after taking the first two matchups in Denver. Game 3 is set for Friday in Minneapolis.

Minnesota improved to 6-0 this post-season by shutting down Nikola Jokić and the second-seeded Nuggets' potent offence, and did so even with three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert unavailable as he attended the birth of his child.

The Timberwolves held Denver to 32.6 per cent shooting in the first half while taking a commanding 61-35 lead into the break, and the Nuggets finished the night shooting 34.9 per cent while committing 16 turnovers.

Jokic was held in check as the two-time league MVP was held to 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, while Jamal Murray ended 3 of 18 from the field while managing just eight points in 36 minutes.

Aaron Gordon paced Denver, which entered the series 14-1 in its last 15 play-off games dating back to 2022, with 20 points. Jokic did record 16 rebounds and eight assists and Murray amassed 13 rebounds.

Towns added 12 rebounds for Minnesota, which led by as many as 32 points in the third quarter and finished with its largest margin of victory in a road play-off game in franchise history.

Brunson joins exclusive club, leads Knicks past Pacers in Game 1

Jalen Brunson extended his streak of 40-point performances and led a fourth-quarter rally that propelled the New York Knicks to a 121-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Brunson netted 21 fourth-quarter points and 43 overall for his fourth consecutive post-season game with 40 or more. The All-Star guard is just the fourth player in NBA history to achieve the feat and first since Hall of Famer Michael Jordan did so in 1993.

Donte DiVincenzo added 25 points and put New York ahead for good on a 3-pointer with 40.4 seconds left that snapped a 115-115 tie. 

The second-seeded Knicks trailed No. 6 seed Indiana 94-85 early in the fourth quarter before closing the gap with an 8-0 run. Brunson scored the first three points of the spurt, which DiVincenzo capped with a 3-pointer that brought New York within one with 8:56 remaining.

The Knicks later scored nine straight points - seven coming from Brunson - to take a 113-109 lead with 2:42 left, but two New York turnovers led to six consecutive Indiana points as the Pacers moved ahead by a 115-113 count with 1:33 to go.

Brunson buried a short jumper on the ensuing possession, however, and DiVincenzo knocked down a 28-footer after Indiana's Andrew Nembhard missed a 3-point try to send the Knicks back in front.

Pascal Siakam's layup with 26.6 seconds left to play brought Indiana within 118-117, but the Pacers went scoreless the rest of the way and Brunson sealed the outcome with three late free throws.

Siakam finished with 19 points and Myles Turner had 23 for Indiana, though Pacers' All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was held to six points in 36 minutes after being listed as questionable for Game 1 due to back spasms.

Josh Hart also had a big night for New York, which will host Game 2 on Wednesday, by compiling 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. 

Anthony Edwards poured in a playoff career-high 43 points and Naz Reid scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 106-99 on the road in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday.

Edwards had 25 points in the first half and Reid took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight points at one point during a pivotal late run.

His 3-pointer with 4:19 remaining capped the surge for a 94-88 lead and the Timberwolves held on down the stretch, with Edwards scoring eight points in the final three minutes.

Game 2 is Monday night in Denver.

Nikola Jokić had 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds but also had seven turnovers for Denver and Jamal Murray added 17 points after he was held scoreless in the first half.

Karl-Anthony Towns battled foul trouble to score 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Mike Conley added 14 points and 10 assists for the Wolves, who improved to 5-0 in these playoffs. 

Three days after knee surgery, Minnesota coach Chris Finch was on the bench in the second row, next to the scorer’s table and behind assistant Micha Nori, who did the instructing, roaming and switching.

For the first time in two decades, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won a play-off series.

The Timberwolves are the NBA's first team to advance to the conference semi-finals after defeating the Phoenix Suns 122-116 on Sunday to complete a first-round sweep.

Minnesota reached the Western Conference second round for the first time since 2004 by recording the first play-off sweep in franchise history.

Anthony Edwards led the way with 40 points, and had a thunderous dunk with just over 2 minutes remaining to help kick start the Timberwolves' celebration.

Edwards had a quiet first half before erupting after half-time, scoring 31 points in the final two quarters. He hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and had 16 points in the final period to help third-seeded Minnesota pull away.

He finished with seven 3-pointers, and also added nine rebounds and six assists, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 10 boards.

The Timberwolves played the final 1:41 without their coach after Mike Conley collided with Chris Finch on the sidelines.

Finch went down hard appearing to injure his right knee and had to be helped to the locker room.

Minnesota, which will face the winner of the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers series, prevailed despite a 49-point performance from Devin Booker.

Booker was 13 of 21 from the field and made 20 of 21 free throws, while Kevin Durant added 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting.

The rest of the Suns combined for 34 points on 36.1 per cent shooting, as Phoenix suffered its first play-off sweep since 1999.

Brunson's historic performance leads Knicks over 76ers

Jalen Brunson is in the record books and the New York Knicks are one win away from a trip to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

Brunson scored a play-off career-high 47 points - the most ever by a Knicks player in a post-season game - in a 97-92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Brunson made two free throws with 5 seconds remaining to seal the win and surpass the franchise record of 46 points scored by Bernard King in 1984.

With the victory in Philadelphia, the second-seeded Knicks grabbed a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

New York has the opportunity to eliminate the 76ers in Game 5 back home at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Brunson, who added a game-high 10 assists, struggled with his shot in the first two games of the series in New York, but found his touch in Philadelphia.

After totaling 46 points on 29.1 per cent shooting in Games 1 and 2, Brunson had 39 points on Thursday, followed by the record-setting performance in Game 4 while shooting 50.8 per cent.

OG Anunoby added 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks, while Josh Hart played a big role despite missing all seven of his field goal attempts by grabbing 17 rebounds.

Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Tyrese Maxey scored 23.

Philadelphia was undone by its struggles from long range, shooting 27.3 percent on 3-pointers (9 of 33) after making 48.4 per cent of its shots from beyond the arc in its Game 3 win.

Clippers hang on after blowing lead of 31 to even up series with Mavericks

The Los Angeles Clippers emerged with a 116-111 victory over the Mavericks in Dallas to even up their first-round series at 2-2.

The fourth-seeded Clippers looked like they would roll to an easy win, as they led by 31 points midway through the second quarter, but the Mavericks came storming back to set up a thrilling final few minutes.

After Kyrie Irving hit an off-balanced layup with 2:15 remaining to put Dallas ahead 105-104 - the Mavs' first lead since it was 8-7 less than 5 minutes into the game - Paul George responded with an incredible fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner and James Harden followed with a driving floating jump shot to put Los Angeles back up by four points.

George and Harden each finished with 33 points, and scored all of the Clippers' final 18 points in the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Irving had 40 points on 14-of-25 shooting and Luka Doncic had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his fourth career play-off triple-double, but was clearly bothered by a sore right knee and misfired on 8 of 9 3-point attempts.

Before the game, the Clippers announced Kawhi Leonard is out indefinitely due to right knee inflammation.

With the Game 4 win, however, Los Angeles improved to 2-0 in this series in games without the two-time NBA Finals MVP.

In this series, each team has won once on its opponent's court. Game 5 is Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Luka Dončić had 32 points, nine assists and six rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks overcame the return of Kawhi Leonard in a 96-93 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday to even their Western Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.

Kyrie Irving added 23 points and PJ Washington had 18 for the Mavericks, who send the series back to Dallas for Game 3 on Friday.

Leonard had 15 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes in his first game since March 31. He didn’t play or engage in any contact practices during that stretch because of inflammation in his surgically repaired knee.

Paul George and James Harden each scored 22 points and Ivica Zubac added 13 with 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who shot 36.8 percent (32 for 87) from the field and missed 22 of 30 from long range.

The Clippers led 73-67 with 9:32 remaining but the Mavs scored 14 straight points for an 81-73 lead with 5:18 left. After Russell Westbrook hit a 3, Washington answered with a 3 to make it 84-76.

Maxi Kleber and Doncic made consecutive 3s to extend Dallas’ lead to 90-81 with 1:26 to play and Irving sealed the win with three free throws in the final 12 seconds.

Timberwolves stifle Suns for 2-0 lead

Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t need another big performance from Anthony Edwards in a 105-93 win over the Phoenix Suns for a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert each scored 18 points while Edwards was limited to 15 on 3-of-12 shooting after he had 33 points in the series opener.

Minnesota held the Suns’ big three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal to a combined 18 for 45 from the field. Booker had 20 points and Durant 18 for the Suns, who head home for Game 3 on Friday faced with a 2-0 series deficit.

Phoenix lost starting guard Grayson Allen to an aggravated ankle sprain in the third quarter, during which the Wolves used a 12-0 run to turn a 63-60 deficit into a 72-63 lead.

The lead was down to 84-76 in the fourth quarter, but Minnesota scored the next seven points and was never threatened thereafter.

Siakam helps Pacers get even

Pascal Siakam poured in 37 points and the Indiana Pacers survived another stellar start by Damian Lillard to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, 125-108, evening their Eastern Conference playoff series at a game apiece.

Myles Turner scored 22 points, Andrew Nembhard added 20 and Tyrese Haliburton had 12 points and 12 assists for the Pacers, who snapped a 10-game playoff losing streak that started with a Game 7 loss to Cleveland in a first-round series in 2018.

Siakam shot 16 of 23 from the field and had 11 rebounds and six assists.

Lillard had 26 points by halftime in this one after scoring all 35 of his points in the first half in the Bucks’ 109-94 victory in Game 1. He finished with 34 on 10-of-21 shooting – including 6 of 13 from 3-point range.

The Bucks were again without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sat with a strained left calf.

Stephen Curry is set to make his Olympic debut for the United States at the age of 36 after being named in the 12-strong men’s basketball squad for Paris on Wednesday.

The Golden State Warriors guard joins three-time Olympic champion Kevin Durant and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer LeBron James in an experienced squad named by national team managing director Grant Hill.

Durant, 35, helped Team USA to gold at each of the last three Olympics, while Los Angeles Lakers forward James, 39, will make his first appearance since London 2012, having also won gold in Beijing in 2008 and bronze in Athens in 2004.

Besides the Phoenix Suns’ Durant, four other members of the Tokyo squad return with Miami Heat centre Bam Adebayo, Phoenix guard Devin Booker, guard Jrue Holiday and forward Jayson Tatum – both of the Boston Celtics – included.

Los Angeles Lakers centre Anthony Davis will, like James, make his first Olympic appearance since London 2012.

Making their debuts on the biggest international stage alongside Curry will be Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Anthony Edwards, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player.

The United States have won gold at each of the last four Olympics and 16 in all, but finished a disappointing fourth at last year’s World Cup.

Curry’s Golden State coach Steve Kerr will lead the team in Paris.

The United States are due to start a training camp in Las Vegas on July 6 before a series of exhibition games that includes tilts against South Sudan and Germany on July 20 and 22 in London. Their opening game in Paris will be against Serbia on July 28.

Nikola Jokic said he is not the only player deserving of MVP honours after strengthening his case by putting up 41 points in the Denver Nuggets' crucial victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.  

Jokic is favoured to see off competition from Luka Doncic and be crowned MVP for the third time in four seasons, and he did his hopes no harm in what was arguably the game of the year to date.

The Timberwolves entered the game top of the West due to holding the tiebreaker over the Nuggets, but the reigning NBA champions leapfrogged them with a crucial 116-107 win at Ball Arena.

Jokic added 11 rebounds and seven assists in the 20th 40-point game of his career, shooting 16-of-20 from the field as a big second half carried the Nuggets home in front of a capacity crowd.

Asked what the performance meant for his hopes of landing the league's top individual prize, Jokic said: "I think I'm playing good basketball. The team is playing good basketball,

"I think there is a lot of guys playing really good basketball in the league and a couple of guys deserve to have that award."

The 2021 and 2022 MVP instead preferred to focus on the role of Denver's closers Peyton Watson and Christian Braun, saying: "They were great. 

"P-Wat, it seemed like he was all over the place. He was just full of energy. C.B., with that sequence of two minutes, it was really amazing. 

"I was happy for those guys. They don't get enough credit for what they are doing on the floor, and they're helping us energy-wise, effort-wise. We need them."

Jokic's huge performance came despite him being guarded by the league's top defender in Rudy Gobert, leading Denver coach Michael Malone to describe the Serbian as unstoppable.

"Nikola always embraces the physicality. He never shies away from it," Malone said. "Rudy Gobert is going to be a Hall of Fame player one day. 

"Rudy Gobert is going to be regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. It just speaks to how great Nikola is. I don't think anybody in the NBA can guard Nikola one-on-one."

Minnesota now need the Nuggets to slip up in one of their final two games, at the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies, to allow them back into the race for the top seed. 

Guard Anthony Edwards, who put up a team-high 25 points, said: "We knew what this game was going to determine.

"If we won it, we knew we were going to possibly be the number one seed. If we lost it, we knew they'd possibly be the number one seed. 

"I think we cared before but now that we lost, we can't do nothing about it."

Anthony Edwards praised coach Chris Finch's man-management skills after dropping 51 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves to a stirring comeback win against the Washington Wizards.

The Wizards made a blistering start to Tuesday's game at Target Center and found themselves 21 points up in the first quarter. 

That advantage was cut to 44-27 by the end of the quarter, yet it still represented Washington's franchise record for most points in a single quarter. 

However, a dominant second-half showing saw Minnesota turn the game around, with Edwards' 3 pointer giving them their first lead with just over two minutes of the third quarter remaining.

His final tally surpassed his previous best, a 49-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs in April 2022, also putting him joint-fifth among all displays from Timberwolves players.

The victory kept Minnesota above the Denver Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference, and they hold the tiebreaker ahead of the teams' huge clash at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

Speaking after the game, Edwards revealed the details of a meeting he held with Finch earlier in the week, saying: "He put me in the office two or three days ago and said, 'look, we've got this Washington game, and we need to win it'.

"'We need to come ready to play, you can't treat it like any other game'. I don't even need to talk about how big it is. Everybody knows."

The Timberwolves improved to 12-5 without All-Star forward Karl-Anthony Towns, who is nearing a return after around a month on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Finch credited his players for producing another real team performance in his absence, saying: "We needed all of them, for sure.

"The best thing about it for me was they came in the flow. Anthony kept making the right play down the stretch for the most part. He was really finding people. 

"Guys were knocking down shots, too. He was aggressive getting to the hoop. I thought he turned the game around, along with Nickeil [Alexander-Walker], in getting to the basket."

Minnesota have already clinched a top-three seed and a victory in Denver on Wednesday would leave them needing just one further win to secure top spot in the West. 

Anthony Edwards scored 37 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied from a 22-point deficit for a 118-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker added a season-high 28 points and Mike Conley scored 23 with five 3-pointers for the Wolves, who bounced back from consecutive losses to pull within one game of the Northwest Division lead.

Kawhi Leonard left with back spasms between the first two quarters, the Clippers said. He played the entire first quarter, but he was seen leaving the arena during the second quarter.

Faced with a 57-35 deficit midway through the second quarter, Minnesota cut the Clippers’ lead to 63-55 at halftime and took control in the second half for the team’s largest comeback since November 2012.

Paul George scored 22 points for Los Angeles, which has dropped two straight for only the second time since Christmas.

Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert returned from a one-game absence with a right hamstring injury but then apparently injured his ribs or sternum at some point in the second half, heading to the locker room in pain.

Kings finally beat Bucks

De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points and Domantas Sabonis had 22 with 11 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 129-94, for their first win in the series in over eight years.

Sacramento posted its first win over Milwaukee since Feb. 1, 2016, with the 15-game losing streak being the longest active streak for any team.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 13 rebounds as the Bucks finished a 1-3 California swing.

Hart stars in Knicks’ rout of 76ers

Josh Hart registered his fourth triple-double of the season and OG Anunoby scored 14 points in his return from an 18-game absence as the New York Knicks rolled to a 106-79 drubbing of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Hart had 20 points, a career high-tying 19 rebounds and 10 assists, and Jalen Brunson added 20 points and nine assists for the Knicks, who bounced back from Sunday’s loss to the 76ers.

Anunoby played his first game since Jan. 27 due to a right elbow injury that required surgery. New York improved to 13-2 in games that he has played in since his acquisition from Toronto on Dec. 30.

Kelly Oubre Jr. had 19 points and Tyrese Maxey added 17 after missing the previous four games due to a concussion. Philadelphia has lost four of its last five games.