Get your Olympic Betting Basketball Odds today! On Wednesday, the U.S. men’s basketball team took on Serbia in the third of their five warm up games, also a preview of the first matchup the U.S. team will see in group play.
In Abu Dhabi, Team USA rolled, 105-79, led by 24 points from Steph Curry.
Bam Adebayo added 17 points and seven rebounds. The Serbian team is seen as one of the top competitors for Team USA, as center Nikola Jokic is one of the best players in the world. The Serbs started the game in gritty fashion as the teams were tied at 40 at the midpoint of the second quarter.
Then Team USA found a new gear, finishing the half on a 19-5 run. Derrick White got his first game action for the Americans after replacing Kawhi Leonard on the roster.
Kevin Durant (calf) is still on the shelf. Team USA is the heavy favorite in men’s five-on-five basketball, but there are still plenty of competitive sports betting action available in the sport.
Let’s go through a power ranking of the 12 men’s 5-on-5 teams as you plan your Olympic wagering.
Olympic Betting Basketball: Looking at Opportunities at the Paris 2024
#12: South Sudan Olympics
These Olympic newcomers have a crazy-hard group, joining Team USA, Serbia and Puerto Rico. They’ll only have a pair of warmup games (Team USA and Great Britain).
Their qualification for the Olympics is an accomplishment all its own. So while seeing this team show up on the podium at the end of the tournament would be a Cinderella story of historic proportions, they earned kudos at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023.
^#11: Puerto Rico Olympics
It’s been 20 years since Puerto Rico took on the United States in men’s basketball. Back in 2004, Larry Ayuso, Carlos Arroyo and the rest of the upstart team took down Team USA with LeBron James in the Athens Olympics. They’re together in Group C, so the rivalry will be renewed.
LeBron is back, even if Arroyo and Ayuso have seen their basketball careers come to an end. It’s a scrappy team, but every win (perhaps even against South Sudan) will be an uphill fight.
^#10: Japan Olympics
In four games against Australia and South Korea this summer, the Japanese defense permitted 90, 95, 85 and 80 points.
The offense was prolific, scoring 89, 95, 84, and 88 points in those games.
They see Germany in a friendly on Friday in Berlin, but expect their scheme to be simple so that the Germans don’t see all of their tricks before they meet in Olympic group play on July 27.
^#9: Brazil Olympics
The Brazilians are coached by Croatian Aco Petrovic, and they followed an interesting strategy, using the coach and most of the roster that lost to Germany in the finals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament ahead of the Tokyo Games again in 2024.
This time, the OQT was in Latvia, and they have the depth, shooting and height to make it to the quarterfinals, if not even further.
^#8: Spain Olympics
This side has a grueling group, facing Canada, Greece, and Australia. Spanish star Rudy Fernandez will play in his sixth Olympic Games – and likely the last one in a storied international career.
No other male basketball player has taken the floor in six Olympic Games.
^#7: Australia Olympics
Eight players on Australia’s roster play in the NBA, although two of them (Joe Ingles and Patty Mills) are set to appear in their fifth games.
Matisse Thybulle didn’t make the team despite his skill on defense, which would have helped a lot against the likes of Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
^#6: Greece Olympics
Greece has a high-flying offense, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is far from the only weapon. Georgios Papagiannis, a seven-footer, went 7 of 14 from behind the arc in four games in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Point guard Nick Calathes is a lethal passer, and with the height on his team, expect a lot of alley-oops – and a lot of assists. This is Greece’s best team in a dozen years, if not more.
^#5: Canada Olympics
The Canadians lost their warmup game against Team USA by 14, clanking 26 of their 33 shots from behind the arc.
However, their starting rotation had four players in the black when it comes to plus/minus, and the other starter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, was only -1, so this team does have a group of five that can stand and go toe-to-toe with the heavy favorites.
The last time Canada made an Olympic podium in men’s basketball was 1936. It’s safe to say that the game has changed fundamentally since then, but this team has the roster and the energy to end that drought.
^#4: Serbia Olympics
Along with Nikola Jokic, Serbian coach Svetislav Pesic also has Bogdan Bogdanovic and Vasilije Micic on the floor, the closest thing to a “superteam” that Serbia has had in a long time.
They didn’t even qualify for the Tokyo Games after making the gold-medal game in 2016.
While they took a beating from Team USA, it’s more than likely that there are still some tricks up Pesic’s sleeve with group play coming.
^#3: France Olympics
The host nation ended up settling for 18th at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023.
Why are they ranked so highly here? Well, as the host nation, they’ll have most of the 27,000 fans cheering for them every time they take the floor.
The French are the only team that beat Team USA at the Tokyo Games; when they met in the gold-medal game, they pushed the Americans until the waning moments.
They also have Victor Wembanyama, the seven-foot phenomenon who is already transforming the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA and also has France playing at a higher level in their warm-up games.
^#2: Germany Olympics
This team isn’t showing up near the top of most odds lists, even though they won the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year.
They also took bronze at the FIBA EuroBasket in 2022, and they picked up some upset wins on the way to Olympic qualifying for the Tokyo Games.
The Wagner brothers, NBA talent Dennis Schroder and the rest of the roster are ready to fly under the radar and walk away with more hardware.
^#1: Team USA Olympic Betting Basketball
Having LeBron James and Steph Curry on the same team for the first time is an iconic moment in U.S. basketball history.
Some are comparing this team to the original Dream Team in 1992, although the team’s results through three warm up games show that the gap between this group and the rest of the world is not nearly the size that it was when Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird dropped the hammer on the rest of the world in Barcelona.
^Just 8️⃣ days to go! Who’s ready to dive into Paris 2024?#Paris2024 @Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/S3hYt1Agzd
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 18, 2024
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