And then there were four.

The men's basketball quarterfinals gave us some blockbuster games and instantly iconic moments, all of which set up a pair of star-studded semifinals on Thursday.

Nikola Jokic looking to carry Serbia to a historic upset of the U.S. Team USA gunning for a historic fifth straight gold. France with a whole nation at their backs and a 20-year-old alien growing up before our eyes. Germany snarling at everyone, taking on all comers with arguably the baddest point guard left in the tournament.

The narratives are endless. The wait is almost over. Here's everything to know ahead of men's semifinal day at Accor Arena in Paris.

Round three with The Joker

Beating the best player on planet Earth once is hard enough. Doing it twice, in the span of just a few days? For as easy as the U.S. has made things look so far in Paris, there's a reason why no one is taking Serbia lightly the second time around.

“Serbia is really good," head coach Steve Kerr said. "We can't get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice. We have to be prepared for their best effort."

Serbia has studied what went wrong in the group-stage game between these two sides, and it'll come out swinging. Bogdan Bogdanovic, who missed the tune-up game between these two sides and struggled in the Group C matchup, is currently on a heater. The U.S. is the deeper and more talented team, but if anyone can exert his will on a game, it's Jokic. Can Joel Embiid fare better than he did the first time? And how might the Americans respond if this game is tight in the second half? At 3 p.m. ET, we find out.

Will France's adjustments pay off against Germany?

Germany's romp over France in the group stage may have inadvertently created a monster. In response to that humbling loss, French coach Vincent Collet went back to the drawing board, pulling Rudy Gobert from the starting lineup and leaving Victor Wembanyama at the 5. The result? A convincing win over a loaded Canada team in the quarterfinal, with a hounding perimeter defense and a far more free-flowing offense. 

Germany brings a bit more size to the table, but it also has shooting at all five spots on the floor. With Gobert nursing a finger injury, will Collet decide to stick with small ball — and will that help France corral Dennis Schroder after the point guard got into the lane at will in the group-stage game? And of course, the evergreen question: Can Wemby's supporting cast — guys like Evan Fournier, Frank Ntilikina, Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier — knock down enough shots? A spot in the gold medal game hinges on the answer, with tipoff set for 11:30 a.m. ET.