With a 5-0 record through the group stage in the 2016 Summer Olympics, the United States is now 22-0 in its last 22 Olympic contests and 135-5 in 140 Olympic games all-time. The Americans will look to advance into the semifinals with a win over Argentina on Wednesday.
Olympic basketball quarterfinal odds 2016: USA heavy betting favorite against Argentina
Team USA is the biggest favorite on the board heading into the quarterfinals of the men’s basketball tournament at the Rio Olympics.
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Team USA is a 23-point favorite over Argentina at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
After crushing China and Venezuela by over 40 points each, it appeared that the Americans would be in cruise control en route to a third straight gold medal. But after being outscored in the fourth quarter against both Serbia and France -- winning each of those games by only three points -- the United States suddenly looks vulnerable heading into a tricky matchup against a 3-2 Argentina team lead by Luis Scola and Manu Ginobili.
The winner of the United States vs. Argentina game will advance to take on the winner of Wednesday’s France vs. Spain matchup. It’s a tough draw for those two teams, which entered the Olympics as the most likely contenders to upset the Americans but must now face each other and (most likely) Team USA just to advance into the gold medal game.
Spain is going off as a 4.5-point favorite at the sportsbooks after finishing in second place in Group B with a 3-2 record.
On the other side of the bracket, Australia could provide some nice value for bettors looking to invest in a long shot going off at +2000 to win the tournament. Australia finished in second place in Group A with a 4-1 record, losing only to the United States while picking up double-digit wins over France and Serbia.
The Australians are a 4.5-point favorite against Lithuania in the quarterfinals.
And wrapping up the quarterfinals in the evening on Wednesday is a matchup between Croatia and Serbia. All four teams that advanced in Group B did so with 3-2 records, but a series of tiebreakers gave Croatia the top spot in the bracket despite a point differential of -7 through the team’s five group stage games.
Serbia only went 2-3 in Group A, but finished with a +39 point differential in group play and is a seemingly favorable matchup as a 5.5-point betting favorite on Wednesday.
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