Olympic Basketball Odds: Team USA Heavily Favored Vs. Argentina In Quarterfinals
The United States will face an old foe Wednesday night when it meets Argentina in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament as a 23.5-point betting favorite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Americans went undefeated in the group stage, tallying five wins by an average margin of 23.4 points and extending their Olympic winning streak to 22 games ahead of Wednesday’s matchup at Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro. But the two-time defending Olympic gold medalists now must face Argentina in the knockout stage for a fourth consecutive time at the Olympics, including semifinal victories at the 2008 and 2012 Games.
The Argentinians were the last squad to hand the United States a loss at the Olympics, claiming victory in the semifinals at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, but they have struggled this time around.
Since opening the tournament with two wins, Argentina has dropped two of three games, including a 92-73 blowout loss to Spain in its group stage finale. Argentina enters the knockout stage tied with Lithuania for most points allowed, surrendering 85.6 per game.
The United States also faces some defensive issues. The Americans claimed victory by an average margin of 50.5 points in their first two contests but have encountered stiffer competition since, escaping with narrow three-point wins over Serbia and France after suffering fourth-quarter collapses in each of those outings.
Despite those concerns, the United States remains a huge favorite to again win gold, perched as a -2000 betting favorite, well ahead of Argentina, a distant +4000 long-shot wager.
Spain sits closest to the Americans on the futures, listed at +1400 ahead of its quarterfinal date with France. La Roja also finished the group stage at 3-2 but dominated in their two recent victories, winning by at least 19 points in each, and are set as 4.5-point chalk against the French.
Australia has emerged as the huge surprise of the tournament, going 4-1 in the group stage, lifting its odds to win the gold medal from +25000 prior to the Olympics to +2000 ahead of its semifinal matchup with Lithuania, which trails at +2500.
Wednesday’s action wraps up with the rekindling of a bitter rivalry, as Serbia battles Croatia as a 5.5-point favorite. Croatia surprised with a first-place finish in Group B but enters the quarterfinals as a long +3300 wager to win the tournament.
Sitting in the middle of the pack with +2200 gold medal odds, Serbia went 2-3 in group-stage action and squeaked out one-point wins in each of its past two games against Croatia.
Thumbnail photo via Joshua Dahl/USA TODAY Sports Images
