The United States has scored two decisive victories over Serbia in the lead up to Thursday’s showdown in the semifinals of the men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics, and the Americans are expected to notch a third en route to the gold medal game.
Team USA is a 16.5-point favorite at DraftKings, where their moneyline is -1650 to send Serbia (+950) to the bronze medal game.
The U.S. routed Serbia 105-79 in an exhibition game last month, and then routed the Serbians again 11 days later in a 110-84 victory in a Group C Game on July 28. That came despite three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Charlotte Hornets guard Vasilije Micic and Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic each logging at least 13 minutes of action for Serbia.
However, Team USA coach Steve Kerr said neither of those wins is relevant heading into Thursday.
“We can’t get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice,” Kerr said. “Does Jokic play 40 minutes? What else do they have up their sleeve? We have to be prepared for anything.”
Serbia is coming off a quarterfinal victory over Australia in which it erased a 24-point second-quarter deficit before going on to win 95-90 in overtime.
Meanwhile, the Americans are coming off a 122-87 victory over Brazil in which Devin Booker led six U.S. scorers in double figures with 18 points. Anthony Edwards finished with 17 points, Joel Embiid collected 14 and Anthony Davis totaled 13.
The U.S. wouldn’t be surprised if Serbia coach Svetislav Pesic opts to keep Jokic on the floor for the entirety of Thursday’s game.
“I guess we’ll be ready for that,” Embiid said. “If that’s what they think they have to do to try to beat us, then they won’t hesitate to do that.”
Thursday’s winner plays for a gold medal on Saturday against France or Germany, who are meeting in the other semifinal. The losers play in the bronze-medal game, also set for Saturday.
Germany is a 5.0-point favorite to beat France.
It’s been 20 years since the Americans have taken home anything other than gold medals at the Olympics. They won the bronze at the 2004 Athens Games but have since won four straight golds.
In all, the U.S. men’s basketball team has racked up 16 golds. They are the -700 favorites at DraftKings to make it 17 come Saturday.
Germany has the next shortest odds at +800, followed by Serbia at +2000 and France at +2200. Meanwhile, Germany is the -145 favorite to win silver, followed by France (+170), the U.S. (+700) and Serbia (+1800).
–Field Level Media
