Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA
United States vs Serbia: Olympic Games – Semifinals
The United States men’s basketball team will face off against Serbia in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics tournament at Accor Arena in Paris.
Can someone stop Team USA?
Team USA has been dominant in the tournament, winning all four games so far. They are coming off a 122-87 win over Brazil in the quarterfinals. Devin Booker led Team USA with 18 points in 15 minutes, followed by Anthony Edwards who scored 17. Team USA started the tournament with a 110-84 win over Serbia, continued with a 103-86 win over South Sudan, and finished with a 104-83 win over Puerto Rico.
Is Nikola Jokic enough for Serbia?
Serbia is coming off the biggest comeback in the Olympic history as they defeated Australia in the quarterfinals by 95-90 in overtime after being down by 24 points. Nikola Jokic was phenomenal finishing the game with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists. In the group stage, Serbia lost to Team USA 110-84, and then defeated Puerto Rico 107-66 and South Sudan 96-85.
Head-to-head
Team USA won five of the six previous games against Serbia. The last one was in the group stage a week ago when the final score was 110-84. Team USA won by 26 in Abu Dhabi weeks before the Olympics. Serbia’s only win was at the 2019 World Cup when they won 94-89 in the game for the fifth place. These two played against each other in the finals of the 2016 Olypimcs and 2014 World Cup, with Team USA winning both of those games.
Prediction and Conclusion
Team USA looks unbeatable, but still they need to get out on the floor and prove that. Serbia is a team that is well known for them, as this will be the third game between the two this summer. Team USA won both previous games by +26 at the tournament in Abu Dhabi and in the group stage of the Olympics. A fun fact from the last game is that Serbia was even with Team USA with Nikola Jokic on the floor. The three-time NBA MVP is playing phenomenal all season long, but he will need help from his teammates to give Serbia a chance. Serbia’s coach Svetislav Pesic led the team of Yugoslavia at the 2002 World Cup, winning the gold medal after beating the USA in the quarterfinals in Indianapolis. This guy knows what he needs to do in order to be competitive in this game, so we go with Serbia to cover the +16.5-point spread.
