2020 Olympics: Men's Basketball Odds, Preview
Who can compete with Team USA?
Reed Wallach - Jul 22, 2021, 9:57am EDT
The 2020 Olympics, taking place in 2021, will be highlighted by Team USA’s pursuit of a fourth straight gold medal.
However, The U.S. has already dealt with some adversity, dropping two of four exhibition games to Nigeria and Australia.
After opening as -1000 to win the Gold Medal, the US has dropped to -320 at BETMGM. Here are the full odds:
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Favorites: Can Anyone Beat Team USA?
After dropping the two aforementioned exhibitions, the Americans lost star guard Bradley Beal to COVID-19 Protocols. This is as shorthanded the U.S. has been in years, even though reinforcements are on the way in Finals participants Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Devin Booker.
While they may not be as dominant as prior years, they are rightful favorites at -320.
After them, Australia is +750. With several NBA players like Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, and Matisse Thybulle, among others, they are the No. 3 team in the world. Australia has a favorable group with Germany, Italy, and Nigeria, so expect them to get out of the group stage with a ton of momentum.
Third is Spain at +900, who has made it to the podium in the last three Olympic games.
While they dropped an exhibition matchup to the U.S. last week, Spain presents a ton of issues for an undersized American club. With the Gasol and Hernangómez brothers on the roster, in addition to a strong pick-and-roll guard as Ricky Rubio, Spain’s offense always thrives in the Olympic setting.
That being said, Spain is in a difficult groups with Argentina, Slovenia, and Japan.
Dark Horses: Luka Dončić and Slovenia Could Crash the Party
Slovenia is +2000 to take home the gold, but has the best non-American player in the field in Luka Dončić. The competition in exhibition play wasn’t stellar, but they won four games by an average of 31 points.
They are in the dangerous Group C with Spain and Argentina, but Dončić gives them the leg up to get into the knockout stage.
Ahead of Slovenia is France (+1500), who have several NBA players like Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum, but are in the same group as Team USA.
If they get out of the group stage, they are likely to come out as the second seed and have a tougher path to the Finals.
I’m not going to count out the Suns just yet, but my play is going to be on the under. After squandering two consecutive chances to beat Milwaukee, I’ll stay away from backing Phoenix and see the total as the stronger play.
I see regression in the shot making department and the pace continuing to slow after earlier games were played at a much faster tempo. There were just 91 possessions in Game 5 and I see that number becoming the norm in the latter stages of the series.
The total jumped up two points on the high scoring Game 5, I like the under down to 221 based on the aforementioned outlier shooting.
Pick: Under 222
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