Steve Kerr warned the United States must not "get lulled to sleep" by the fact they have already beaten Serbia twice recently.

The USA cruised past Brazil to reach the semi-finals of the Olympics, and Nikola Jokic's Serbia are next up.

Serbia have already faced the USA in the group stage, with the four-time reigning Olympic champions winning 110-84.

The USA also beat Serbia by 26 points in a warm-up match prior to the Games, but Kerr is taking nothing for granted ahead of Thursday's clash.

He said: "We can't get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice.

"We have to be prepared for their best effort. We've got to think about what they are going to do differently.

"Jokic, I guess he could play 40 minutes. What else do they have up their sleeve?"

It was a sentiment echoed by LeBron James.

"Every game is its own test. No matter what happened in the first two, it's about what goes down Thursday night," he said.

"So we need to lock in our film session, lock in during the day on Thursday, and then come out and be ready to go."

Jokic inspired Serbia to an Olympic-record comeback against Australia in the quarters.

How Serbia plan to manage Jokic's minutes is an intriguing question, but Joel Embiid is setting himself up to face the reigning NBA MVP for over 40 minutes.

"I guess we'll be ready for that," said Embiid.

"If that's what they think they have to do to try to beat us, then they won't hesitate to do that."

The Utah Jazz have signed forward Lauri Markkanen to a five-year, $238million contract that includes money added to next season’s salary and four additional years through the 2028-29 campaign.

The 2022-23 All-Star and NBA Most Improved Player will see his salary increase from $18million to $42 million next season before earning $196million from 2025-29.

“I’m excited to get this extension done,” Markkanen said. "I’m excited to get back to work and build with this franchise.”

The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Markkanen with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft before dealing him to the Chicago Bulls in a draft-night trade.

Markkanen went on to earn First-Team All-Rookie honours in 2017-18 before Chicago traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in August 2021.

He spent one season with the Cavaliers before they dealt him to Utah in the trade that sent Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland.

Markkanen averaged a career-high 25.6 points in his first season with the Jazz in 2022-23 while adding 8.6 rebounds per game. He was named an All-Star for the first time as well as the NBA’s Most Improved Player.

The 27-year-old Finland native followed that campaign by averaging 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds last season.

Markkanen's 1,004 made 3-pointers rank third all-time in NBA history for players seven foot or taller behind Dirk Nowitzki (1,982) and Channing Frye (1,049).

Kevin Durant is not interested in individual records and his only aim is to win a fourth consecutive gold medal with the United States at the Paris Olympics.

The 35-year-old became the USA's all-time leading scorer at the Olympics during their 122-87 victory over Brazil, surpassing Lisa Leslie's tally of 488.

Despite such an achievement, Durant played down its enormity, stating that another player will likely surpass it in the future and another gold medal is what he is truly focused on.

"Records are meant to be broken, so somebody will come along and do the same to me," Durant said.

"My focus is on trying to win this gold."

LeBron James was full of praise for Durant, and the NBA's record points-scorer believes there is more still to come.

"He's incredible. He was born to play ball and he's simply incredible," James said.

"I'm happy for him. Congratulations to him. I'm super proud of him. And he's got more to go."

James had to go off to receive treatment during the third quarter after he took an elbow to the face from Georginho De Paula but he eased any concerns after the match, stating that he was fine and will be ready for the semi-final.

He said: "I'm all right. Got hit with an inadvertent elbow around the eye."

Meanwhile, despite Team USA being on the cusp of a fourth straight gold, Jayson Tatum, a champion in Tokyo, warned that the one-off nature of the knockout competition meant there was no room for complacency or easing up. 

Tatum said: "Everybody expects us to win. But you don't take things for granted, right? Canada lost earlier. It's a different game. It's not like the playoffs, where it's a series.

"We've got one game and a lot of (stuff) can happen in one game, especially over here."

Team USA will face Nikola Jokic's Serbia in the semi-finals, a side they have already beaten in the group stages. 

Kevin Durant became the United States' all-time leading scorer at the Olympic Games in a 122-87 rout over Brazil to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.

He added 11 points for Team USA in just 21 minutes, surpassing Lisa Leslie's tally of 488 to make him the top-scorer of any American basketball player, male or female, at the Games.

Joel Embiid, greeted by a chorus of boos from the French fans after passing on the chance to play for their national team, was the star though, as he got 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half to set the USA on their way to victory.

LeBron James also orchestrated the game, for 12 minutes at least, making snapshot passes as he piled up nine assists and 12 points. However, his game came to an early end when he took an elbow to the face from Georginho De Paula.

Devin Booker top scored for the USA with 18 points as they shared the load, and though Bruno Caboclo got 24 points for Brazil, he could not inspire a shock upset against the reigning champions.

Steve Kerr's team are chasing a fifth consecutive gold medal but will have to face Serbia, who they beat in their competition opener, for a place in the final.

France are through to their second consecutive Olympic semi-final after brushing aside Canada 82-73 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Canada were unbeaten coming into this game after a strong showing in the competition so far, but had no answers against the hosts and their raucous home support.

Canada's game plan limited Victor Wembanyama to a supporting role as he scored just seven points, but that allowed Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier to shine as they scored 22 and 20 points respectively.

France made a strong start, storming into a 19-point lead at the start of the second half, though Canada clawed themselves back to within five points with only four minutes remaining - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led them with 27 points.

The comeback soon stalled though, as Evan Fournier put together seven quick points to send France cruising into the next round as they aim to better their silver medal from the Tokyo Olympics.

They will face Germany for a chance to play in the gold-medal match, while Canada have now failed to make it to the final four at the Olympics since 1984.

The New York Knicks named Jalen Brunson as their new captain on Tuesday.

He is the team's first captain in six years, with Lance Thomas the last in the 2018-19 season, and the 36th overall.

Brunson has established himself in the team since arriving in 2022, helping the team to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in both seasons since leaving the Dallas Mavericks.

He averaged 28.7 points, 6.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds over 35.4 minutes in 77 games in the regular season.

Brunson also became the first player in NBA history to score at least 40 points and get at least five assists in four consecutive playoff games.

"The New York Knicks have a deep and storied history, and today we are immensely proud to add to that lineage by naming Jalen Brunson as our captain," said Knicks president Leon Rose.

"Jalen is a natural-born leader, and I am confident he will continue to represent our organization, fans, city and his team-mates with the same heart, grit and class that he has displayed each and every day since he came to New York."

Brunson earned his first All-Star nod last season and finished fifth in the voting for the NBA MVP award. 

Serbia completed the biggest comeback in Olympic basketball history as they defeated Australia 95-90 in overtime.

Nikola Jokic had 21 points as Serbia overturned a 24-point deficit in Tuesday's quarter-final tie.

Adding to his points tally, Jokic also registered 14 rebounds and eight assists. Team-mate Bogdan Bogdanovic was also on form and finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and six assists.

While Australia had led by 24 points after 13 minutes, a stellar third quarter from Serbia saw them rally to lead.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Australia edged the fourth quarter to force the first overtime of the competition at 78-78 but Jokic's Serbia proved too strong in OT.

They will face either the reigning Olympic champions United States or Brazil in the semis.

On the other side of the draw, Germany overcame Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece 76-63 to reach their first-ever Olympic semi-finals.

The World Cup champions remain unbeaten in the competition despite Antetokounmpo's 22 points.

Franz Wagner’s 20 points helped the Germans overturn a 12-point deficit to line up a semi-final with the winner of France versus Canada.

"I think it speaks to our maturity," Wagner said. "We even talked about it at half-time, not everything's going to go perfect all the time.

"So you kind of recover from that and adjust and react. I thought we did a good job of responding."

The United States' players must be prepared to take their moment when it comes as they go for Olympic gold, so says Stephen Curry.

A star-studded USA side have won all their games in Paris so far, but now the pressure is on in the knockout stage.

Brazil are their quarter-final opponents on Tuesday, and while Curry is confident the USA's attack is good enough to beat any team, he knows each player has to be 100% ready for clutch moments.

"That's how we can overwhelm teams," he said.

"It's just everybody has to be ready for your moment whenever it is."

For coach Steve Kerr, meanwhile, it is a case of the USA sticking to an identity and gameplan.

"It's important to focus on keeping that identity now that you're playing the best teams," Kerr said.

"We know what wins a FIBA game.

"We are just completely focused on our defense and then the beauty of our team and the talent, the depth of our talent is that from one game to the next, we've got lots of guys who have the ability to get rolling."

United States head coach Steve Kerr is expecting a tough game against underdogs Brazil when the sides meet in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games on Monday.

The USA qualified for the knockout round as the top seed after staying perfect in the group stage, rounding it off with a 104-83 victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Brazil are the underdogs in the competition and squeezed into the last eight thanks to a tiebreaker and some excellent 3-point shooting to see off Japan in what turned out to be the deciding game.

While the USA are on the opposite side of the draw to the powerhouses of Canada, France and Germany, Kerr is not letting the four-time reigning Olympic champions rest on their laurels.

"They're very physical. I think they're the number one offensive rebounding team in the tournament," Kerr said.

"They've got a lot of really good shooters, and they just play hard. They compete play after play, so we'll have to be ready for their physicality and their shooting, and we need to be on edge and ready for them because they're not going to back down.

"In the spirit of the Olympics and the marathon/sprint metaphor that I've used, now that we've been through it, I would call it the 800 meters," Kerr said. "We're running really hard, but it's not the 100 meters."

In the opening three games, Brazil had six different players averaging eight points or more in the Olympics, while the team averaged 13 offensive rebounds per game.

The USA have already given up 16 more offensive rebounds than they have got, one of the few weak spots in the team challenging for a fifth consecutive gold medal.

Kerr's team face Brazil on Monday, with a place in the semi-finals against either Serbia or Australia at stake. 

Steve Kerr laid down the marker for his United States team ahead of their final group game at the Paris Olympics.

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.

Gordon Hayward announced his retirement on Thursday following 14 seasons in the NBA.

The Utah Jazz selected Hayward with the ninth overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, and he went on to also play for the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 34-year-old forward averaged 15.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 835 career regular-season games.

An All-Star with Utah in 2016-17, Hayward ranks fifth all-time in Jazz history with 689 made 3-pointers.

“Today, I am officially retiring from the game of basketball,” Hayward wrote on social media. “It’s been an incredible ride and I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me achieve more than I ever imagined.

“To all my fans: thank you for supporting me through the ups and downs. I’ll always cherish the letters of encouragement and the moments we’ve shared around the world.

“You inspired me to always dream big and improve everyday - and for the young players up next, I challenge you do to the same!”

The United States continued their quest for a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal after securing their spot in the quarter-finals with a comfortable win over South Sudan. 

Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo starred for the 16-time champions, registering a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds in their 103-86 triumph at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.

The USA led from the first quarter and never looked back, with 14 of Adebayo's points coming before half-time as their star-studded bench maintained their advantage. 

For South Sudan, Nuni Omot led the way with a game-high 24 points, but with a team boasting 12 NBA All-Stars, four NBA MVPs and six NBA champions, it proved too much for the Bright Stars. 

Kevin Durant (14), Anthony Edwards (13), LeBron James (12), Devin Booker (10) and Derrick White all finished in double figures to ensure there was no repeat of their close encounter with their opponents prior to the Games. 

South Sudan led the United States by 16 points in their pre-tournament fixture, but narrowly avoided a huge upset in London as they emerged 101-100 victors. 

The United States will face winless Puerto Rico in their final group game this Saturday. 

Meanwhile, in the other Group C fixture, Nikola Jokic made Olympic history as he helped Serbia ease to their biggest win at the Games following a 107-66 triumph over Puerto Rico. 

Jokic finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists, becoming the first player in Olympic history to record at least 10 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists in a single game.

Filip Petrusev also played his part in the victory, with Serbia knowing they must beat South Sudan in their final group game to qualify for the knockout stages.

Jarrett Allen has become the latest Cleveland Cavalier to sign a maximum contract extension since the conclusion of the 2023-24 NBA season.

Allen signed a three-year, $91million extension with the Cavaliers on Wednesday, according to multiple sources.

The deal will guarantee him $131million over the next five years.

Allen joins Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley as Cleveland players to ink extensions this off-season, as the franchise has established itself as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.

The 26-year-old Allen averaged a career-best 16.5 points along with 10.5 rebounds in 77 games last season. His shooting percentage of 63.4 ranked fourth in the NBA.

The 22nd overall pick of the 2017 draft by the Nets, Allen spent his first three-plus NBA seasons in Brooklyn before Cleveland acquired him in January 2021.

He was named an All-Star in his first full season with the Cavs in 2021-22, when he averaged 16.1 points and a career-high 10.8 rebounds.

In 252 games in a Cavs uniform, Allen has averaged 15.1 points, 10.3 boards and 2 assists while shooting 64.2 per cent.

The Cavs reached last season's East semi-finals before being ousted by the eventual champion Boston Celtics with Allen sitting out the entire play-off series due to a rib injury and Mitchell missing the final two games because of a left calf strain.

In the four post-season games he played before his injury, Allen averaged 17 points on 67.6 per cent shooting and 13.8 rebounds.

Victor Wembanyama scored eight of his 18 points in overtime to ensure France edged Japan 94-90 to maintain their unbeaten start at the Paris Olympics. 

Japan looked set to cause an unlikely upset against the hosts, but Matthew Strazel's four-point play with 10 seconds of the fourth quarter remaining spared their blushes.

"The shot of his life," Wembanyama said on Strazel's shot that sent the game into overtime at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille. 

Wembanyama then took centre stage, scoring the first eight points of overtime to give France a 92-84 cushion.

Japan would battle back and got to within two points of their opponents, but the home team were able to close out the contest at the free throw line. 

Wembanyama also finished with 11 rebounds and six assists, and recalled the moment when the encounter changed in overtime. 

"The realisation, the dynamic of the game," Wembanyama said. 

"They were playing like underdogs and we were waiting for them to punch a little bit too much. I wanted to make a point and punch first in overtime. And it worked."

France remained in second place in Group B behind fellow unbeaten nation Germany, with the pair squaring off this Friday to see who will finish on top. 

Dennis Schroder starred for Germany in the final game on Tuesday, as the Brooklyn Nets point guard notched 20 points and six assists in their 86-73 win over Brazil. 

Stephen Curry has made it clear the United States have "appropriate fear" ahead of their upcoming encounter with South Sudan at the Paris Olympics. 

Curry, who helped Team USA to an opening 110-84 win over Serbia, echoed a sentiment pushed by his Golden State Warriors coach, Steve Kerr. 

Ahead of the Games, the USA endured a stern test against Wednesday's opponents earlier this month, narrowly avoiding a huge upset with a 101-100 victory in London.

South Sudan are making their first appearance at the Olympics, and got their campaign up and running with a 90-79 triumph over Puerto Rico. 

Despite South Sudan not having any current NBA players on their roster, they have plenty of experience within their ranks. 

The likes of Wenyen Gabriel, JT Thor and Marial Shayok all shone in their pre-tournament meeting with the USA, with Curry acknowledging a tough task lies ahead. 

"We have appropriate fear," said Curry. "We know we can't just sleepwalk through any game and feel like you're going to win."

While the USA are still the clear favourites to win the encounter at the Stade Pierre Mauroy, head coach Kerr said their previous encounter will be to their advantage this time around. 

"They came within one shot of beating us," Kerr said.

"I'm really glad that we played them so we can feel their speed and their 3-point shooting ability and feel how good they are."

"We'll be much better prepared [Wednesday]. But doesn't guarantee anything."

During their pre-tournament encounter, South Sudan scored 14 3-pointers against the Americans, making 10 more against Puerto Rico last time out. 

"The exhibition schedule was great because you got to figure out where we need to get better and also feel the force of teams that are coming trying to beat us," Curry said.

"They're a very high-octane offense, spread the floor, shoot a lot of 3s and have athleticism. So you just got to be mindful of how to guard them. It's totally different than Serbia."