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United States vs Puerto Rico: Nikola Jokic goes against Team USA

The United States men’s basketball team finishes the group stage of the 2024 Paris Olympics tournament against Puerto Rico at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Saturday.

 

Team USA is still just warming up

As expected, Team USA is dominating the basketball tournament at the Olympics and it will take a miracle for someone to stay on their way to another gold medal. They started the tournament with a 103-86 win over Serbia and moved on with a 110-84 win over South Sudan. Bam Adebayo led the team with 18 points and 7 rebounds followed by Kevin Durant who scored 14.

 

The show is over for Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico made it to the Olympics after winning the qualifying tournament in their country but has not won a game ever since. They lost the opener in Paris, 90-79 to South Sudan, and then were blown away by Serbia in a 107-66 loss. Christopher Ortiz led Puerto Rico with 19 points in that one, followed by Ismael Romero with 10.

 

Betting Trends

Team USA has won 9 of the last 10 games against Puerto Rico. The last time they played, the USA won 117-74 in a friendly game a year ago. The last time Puerto Rico defeated Team USA was at the Pan-American games in 2019 when the score was 87-84. The most famous Puerto Rican win over Team USA came 20 years ago at the Athens Olympics when they won 92-73.

 

Prediction and Conclusion

Team USA is showcasing dominance at the Paris Olympics, and they will close out the group stage against a team they have lost to in the past. However, Puerto Rico is not even close to the team they had a couple of decades ago, and they will stand no chance in this one. This will be just a scrimmage for Team USA, and it will be a game that the fans will enjoy. Even without pushing, Team USA will win by covering the -35.5-point spread.