USA vs. Serbia Predictions

• Where: Accor Arena, Paris, France
• When: Friday, August 9, 03:00 AM

Once again, Team USA and Serbia meet at these Olympics, but this time, the stakes are much higher. Finals are on the table, and we don’t need to explain what this means for both teams. As usual, the American team is a massive favorite, and they already defeated Serbia twice before this summer, once in a friendly game and again in the opening meeting of the group stages here in France.

USA vs. Serbia Preview

USA

The United States had light shooting training against Brazil in the quarterfinals, where they showed that all their players know how to score from distance. The final result was 122-87 for the Americans, who made 15 threes in 31 attempts.

Unlike before, when they muscled their rivals, US team’s biggest weapon in this competition is its downtown shooting, with them blasting all the rivals outside the arc, not under the rim as many would expect.

Kevin Durant had a nice milestone against the Brazilians, becoming the top scorer in the US team’s history. He ended that match with 11 points, while Devin Booker had a team-high 18 points, hitting five threes in seven attempts.

Serbia

The Serbs made the biggest comeback in the Olympic Games history, erasing a 24-point deficit against Australia in their quarterfinal appearance and eventually winning 95-90 following overtime. They could have secured the triumph in the regular 40 minutes, but Patty Mills made a game-tying shot in the last moments.

Anyhow, Nikola Jokic took over when it mattered the most, ending Serbia’s final few possessions and hitting some pretty nasty shots in decisive situations. He had 21 points, 14 boards, and one assist short of a triple-double.

Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 buckets with six assists and five boards, while Vasilije Micic scored 14 and had 6 dimes.

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USA and Serbia Possible Lineups

USA: Curry, James, Davis, Booker, Holiday

Serbia: Avramovic, Bogdanovic, Jokic, Petrusev, Micic

USA vs Serbia Head to Head

The United States beat Serbia twice this summer. The first meeting was in Abu Dhabi, 105-79, a friendly one, while the second happened here in France at the Olympics, 110-84. What is interesting about the latter matchup was that the result was tied with Jokic in the game, 81-81, and that the Americans made the difference in nine minutes with him on the bench.

USA vs. Serbia Predictions

The over/under line is set at 184 points, and this meeting will go under. Why? The Serbs have to be much more aggressive on the defensive side. They won’t allow the Americans to shoot too much from behind the arc, and they will definitely try to lower the pace of the match. Also, we don’t believe the US side will be as relaxed and casual as in the first meeting regarding defense.

Our verdict: Under 184 points

USA versus Serbia Odds

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