Sonny Weems has agreed to a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow.

Weems played last season for Zalgiris Kaunas, where he averaged 15.5 points and 5 rebounds in 15 Euroleague games.

Luol Deng played all but 63 seconds of Great Britain’s 95-75 loss to Russia on Sunday.

Deng is playing for Britain despite a torn ligament in his left wrist.

"The wrist is great," Deng said. "I'm not thinking about it. I'm just playing out there. These games are helping me. So far, I've had no trouble. For those who say I only drive right, I drove left a couple times (Sunday)."

Britain faces an uphill battle in its bid to escape the five-game preliminary round.

"We're the underdog, and it's definitely difficult," Deng said. "It's a different game. It's exhausting. It's definitely different than playing with Derrick (Rose). But it really helps my game also. I get to handle the ball, play pick-and-roll. Saying all that, I just try to do whatever I can to help us win."

Andrei Kirilenko likened the Timberwolves to Rick Adelman's Sacramento Kings teams, which featured Europeans like Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac playing prominent roles.

"For me, it looks like European flavor on the team," said Kirilenko, referring to Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, himself and Alexey Shved. "For me right now, it's pretty much the same type of team-building. A lot of European guys, a lot of guys who can run the floor. Alexey is another big, big plus."

Minnesota signed Shved, who scored 16 points and handed out 13 assists against Great Britain on Sunday, to a three-year, $10 million deal.

"It's a great team (they're) creating," Kirilenko said. "Kevin has really started to turn into a superstar this year. Last year, a lot of my friends were watching the games, especially Minnesota and how they play. It's very, very energetic and nice."

Josh Howard has narrowed his list of potential landing spots to Brooklyn, New York, Utah, Indiana and Golden State and is expected to soon make a decision.

An unrestricted free agent, Howard averaged 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 43 games for the Jazz last season.

Daryl Morey has positioned the Rockets for a blockbuster move after amnestying Luis Scola and selecting Jeremy Lamb, Royce White and Terrence Jones with the Nos. 12, 16 and 18 picks of last month’s draft.

Beyond Lamb, White and Jones, the Rockets could use a combination of 2011 draft picks Marcus Morris, Donatas Motiejunas and Chandler Parsons in a potential trade for Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum.

“It’s very similar to what Boston did,” Morey said in reference to the Celtics’ 2008 trade for Kevin Garnett. “Hopefully, it will yield the same result.”

Houston is likely to have at least one lottery pick next summer, and could have another from Toronto as well.

“We’ll be very well set up in a year,” Morey said.

Nicolas Batum tweaked his back during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and scored just 7 points on 2-for-6 shooting against Team USA on Sunday.

"It was tough because I had a bad back. I tried to play with it, I tried everything," said Batum. "I hurt it during the Opening Ceremony, standing four or five hours in a row. I'm not used to that."

France trailed by just one at the end of the first quarter, 22-21. Team USA went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter to give themselves a cushion and were never seriously challenged the rest of the game.

Batum recently inked a four-year, $46 million contract with the Blazers.

Kobe Bryant said he will not chase a sixth NBA championship.

“I’m just going to, like, hold on for dear life?” Bryant said when asked if he would stick around till he won another title. “I’m not the type of guy to do that. I’ll give you the great effort, my best effort, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.

“But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t.”

Bryant, 33, again hinted that he may retire after the 2013-14 season.

“That’s what I’m thinking, but I haven’t had any serious thoughts about it,” he said

Andrei Kirilenko feels renewed after playing a 40-game season with CSKA Moscow.

"I would say so,'' said Kirilenko. "We had a pretty good schedule -- we only play twice a week. But I feel I'm ready to play because we had a lot of practices.''

Kirilenko scored 35 points on 14-of-17 shooting to lead Russia to a 95-75 win over Great Britain on Sunday.

"I feel great,'' Kirilenko said. “I'm running like a young deer.”

The United States overcame a slow start to easily defeat France by a final score of 98-71 in their Olympic opener on Sunday.

Kevin Durant led Team USA with 22 points and nine rebounds, while LeBron James was also strong with nine points, eight assists and five rebounds. Kevin Love and Kobe Bryant also finished in double-figures with 14 and 10 points respectively.

Ali Traore led France in scoring with 12 points while also adding five rebounds. Tony Parker had 10 points, but just one assist and four turnovers. Ronny Turiaf had seven points and nine rebounds.

Brazil defeated Australia by a final score of 75-71 in pool play of the Olympics Games on Sunday.

Marcelinho Huertas had 15 points, 10 assists and four rebounds to lead Brazil. Anderson Varejao had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Nene had 10 points and seven rebounds. Leandro Barbosa was Brazil's leading scorer with 16 points.

Patty Mills had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a losing effort for Australia. Joe Ingles added 15, and David Andersen had 14 points and eight rebounds.