Admin July 28, 2024
Nicolas Batum, of France, drives on Georginho De Paula, of Brazil, in a men’s basketball game at the … [+]
Basketball at the Paris Olympics tipped off Saturday, July 27 with men’s group openers. The 12 team competition is split into three different four-team groups, and Team USA plays their opening game Sunday.
Team USA is a heavy favorite to win the gold medal, but first must finish top-2 in their group to advance, along with the two best third place teams to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Ahead of Team USA’s opening game Sunday, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid missed practice on Saturday and Los Angeles Lakers big Anthony Davis had been absent from training over the past few days, both due to sickness. Also, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, the all-time leading scorer for Team USA at the Olympics, has been practicing after missing all five of Team USA’s exhibition games.
Projecting The Best NBA Players At The Olympics
ESPN did a feature on the 20 best NBA players competing at the Paris Olympics. Team USA has six of the top-10, but none of the top-3. Those six do not include LeBron James or Kevin Durant. But with a loaded lineup that features Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker and Anthony Davis, you can see why Team USA is a heavy -400 favorite to win the gold medal, and -5000 to win any medal.
Olympic Basketball Gold Medal Odds
- -400: USA
- +850: Canada
- +1400: France
- +1600: Serbia
- +1800: Germany
- +2100: Australia
- +4600: Greece:
- +14000: Spain
- +15000: South Sudan
- +25000: Puerto Rico
- +50000: Brazil
- +50000: Japan
Saturday’s results have already caused significant odds adjustments. Australia beat Spain 92-80 and Australia’s odds to win gold are now +2100 after opening +4000 while Spain’s odds fell sharply to +14000. Host nation France opened with a 78-66 win over Brazil to drop slightly in odds while Brazil’s odds shot up to +50000 along with Japan, who lost 97-77 to Germany. Canada was the other winner Saturday with an 87-79 win over Greece, and Canada dropped from +1000 to +850 to be the second choice behind USA.
Matchups And Odds
Olympic basketball odds from FanDuel Sportsbook refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. Additional games odds and spreads will be posted as lines are available at least a day prior to future games. Listed point spread on favorites. All times Eastern. All games streamed online at Peacock, and Team USA games televised on NBC with quarterfinals on USA.
Sunday, July 28
- Puerto Rico vs. South Sudan (-1.5), Total 170.5 – 5:00 a.m.
- Serbia vs. USA (-13.5), Total 181.5 – 11:15 a.m. on
Tuesday, July 30
- Spain vs. Greece (-4.5), Total 167.5 – 5:00 a.m.
- Australia vs. Canada (-6.5), Total 173 – 7:30 a.m.
- Japan vs. France (-19.5), Total 163.5 – 11:15 a.m.
- Brazil vs. Germany (-12.5), Total 163.5 – 3:00 p.m.
Wed., July 31
- Puerto Rico vs. Serbia – 11:15 a.m.
- South Sudan vs. USA – 3:00 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 2
- Japan vs. Brazil – 5 a.m.
- Greece vs. Australia – 7:30 a.m.
- Spain vs. Canada – 11:15 a.m.
- Germany vs. France – 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 3
- Puerto Rico vs. USA – 11:15 a.m.
- South Sudan vs. Serbia – 3:00 p.m.
Follow daily picks and props on FanDuel Research, which opened with a pair of winners on France (-9.5) over Brazil and a player prop winner on Patty Mills, who scored 19 points in Australia’s win over Spain.
Group A: Australia, Greece, Canada, Spain
Group B: France, Germany, Japan, Brazil
Group C: Serbia, South Sudan, Puerto Rico, USA
Each team plays the other three in its group. The teams with the two best records in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Ties are broken by head-to-head competition and then point differential.
All Sports Team USA News And Results
The quarterfinals start Aug. 6 in the knockout stage and should be very competitive. The semifinals are Aug. 8 and Gold Medal and Bronze Medal games Aug. 10. It won’t be as easy to win the Gold Medal for Team USA as the odds suggest.
“We have to play almost perfect basketball, mistake-free basketball if we want to win a gold medal,” Anthony Davis said.
Team USA coach Steve Kerr says the team needs to rise up, lock in and find another level.
“It’s got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can’t let teams outplay us effort- and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.”
Kerr added, “This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal.”
Men’s 3×3 Olympics Basketball
The men’s 3×3 basketball action tips off on July 30. Team USA plays Serbia, who is the slight tournament favorite over USA.
Women’s Olympics Basketball
The Women’s Olympics schedule starts July 28, and Team USA tips off their competition on July 29 as a 20.5 point favorite over Japan. USA then plays Belgium on Aug. 1 and Germany on Aug. 4 in the group phase. The powerful American team is a huge favorite to capture the Gold Medal led by four players on the WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces.
But the most bet games of the Paris Olympics will be the men’s basketball competition with host France a popular bet (+116) to win a medal, and challenge for gold.
You can bet on it.
