In the 2024 Olympic men’s 5×5 basketball semifinals, the United States (4-0 record) will face Serbia (3-1 record) at 2:00 a.m. on Friday, August 9 at the Accor (Paris-Bercy) Arena.
Odds: US -17.5 points
O/U ratio: 183.5 points
Match Info: USA and Serbia meet again, making it their third meeting in less than three weeks in three different locations. The two teams first played a pre-Olympic friendly, then faced off in their Olympic opener and now face off in the semifinals.
The two previous meetings saw the US win by the same 26-point margin. This time, with both teams “warmed up”, will the result be different for the European representatives?
Notable stats: The US team is showing superiority in many aspects, especially the 3-point shooting success rate of up to 44% 3PT (compared to only 32.4% 3PT of Serbia).
The US team’s offense, led by LeBron James, is also averaging 109.8 points (55.4% FG) with more than 28 assists per game. Serbia’s numbers are 95.5 points (50.9% FG) and 25.5 assists.
Head-to-head record: The US have won their last two games against Serbia, once in a pre-Olympic friendly and once in the group stage of the Olympics (both by 26 points).
Furthermore, Serbia only had 1 win at the 2019 FIBA World Cup with a score of 94-89, the rest was the US team’s win at the 2014 FIBA World Cup with a score of 129-92 and twice defeated Serbia at the 2016 Olympics (group stage win 94-91, final win 99-66).
Olympic basketball review, semi-final match between USA vs Serbia takes place at 2:00 am on August 9:
Bringing an extremely strong lineup with stars from the NBA, the US basketball team is the strongest candidate for the championship, and is also the most “dominant” team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In the group stage, the US had a big win over Serbia with a score of 110-84 to open the Olympic campaign, laying the first brick for an impressive streak up to this point.
However, it will not be easy to repeat that scenario. That is where Kevin Durant had a great game on his return from injury. That is also where Nikola Jokic and his teammates have not really warmed up.
Serbia’s form improved significantly in the following group stage matches with two consecutive wins, followed by a comeback from a 24-point deficit to defeat Australia in the quarter-finals.
This rematch, Serbia will certainly bring a different face in terms of form, spirit and approach to the match. Nikola Jokic will almost certainly play the full minutes of the match with the knockout nature of this match, promising to bring the US team a great challenge.
With the above information, experts believe this will be a balanced match with not too far a gap.
Expert opinion: Serbia +18.5 and U/183.5 points
>> See more: Today’s Olympic basketball predictions
Injury status:
_ The Serbian team took the field with their strongest lineup.
_ The US team took the field with its strongest lineup.
