France and Turkey came out on top of two thrilling classification games and will now go head to head on Saturday to claim fifth place.
Turkey shook the Saitama Super Arena with an incredible fightback at the end of regulation before beating Lithuania in overtime at the FIBA World Championship on Thursday.
German star Dirk Nowitzki stepped out of bounds with 0.9 seconds remaining as France beat Germany 75-73 to secure a spot in the game for fifth place at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.
Juan Carlos Navarro is raring to lead Spain to the top of world basketball but he's not quite ready to find himself a place in the ultimate stardom of the US National Basketball Association.
Greek center Sofoklis Schortsanitis, better known as "Baby Shaq", sees a great opportunity in his team's semi-final showdown Friday with the United States at the World Basketball Championship.
As practice wound down, Mike Krzyzewski approached LeBron James, who was shooting baskets alone on a side court.
Jumaine Jones signed a one-year contract Thursday with the Phoenix Suns, who added an outside shooting threat to their roster.
US stars know they must improve to beat Greece on Friday and qualify for Sunday's World Basketball Championship final, where either 2004 Olympic champion Argentina or title-hungry Spain will await.
Former National Basketball Association great Patrick Ewing gave up his assistant coaching position with the Houston Rockets.
A United States team eschewing the trash-talking swagger of previous incarnations find themselves two wins away from the promised land.
The United States are doing more than winning games as they close in on reclaiming the gold medal at the world basketball championship.
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