Puerto Rico and Serbia will treat their matchup this Wednesday like a do-or-die contest, as a loss would likely mean elimination from medal contention. Will Puerto Rico stun Serbia? Or, will Serbia crush Jose Alvarado and company?

Catch this game live on Wednesday, July 31, 2024 at 11:15 PM, Manila time

Away: Puerto Rico (0-1)

Projected Starting Five:

• Tremont Waters
• José Alvarado
• George Conditt IV
• Isaiah Piñeiro
• Ismael Romero

Puerto Rico suffered a mild upset loss to South Sudan last Sunday, 90-79. As expected the backcourt tandem of Jose Alvarado and Tremont Waters did plenty of damage, as they had 26 and 18 points, respectively. Offense didn’t seem to be much of a problem for Puerto Rico in that contest. It was a different story on the defensive end for them, though, as South Sudan got numerous second-chance opportunities off of their rebounding on the offensive glass. 

South Sudan grabbed 55 rebounds (18 offensive) to just 37 (10 offensive) by Puerto Rico. That could be the same issue Puerto Rico would deal with against Serbia, who have a guy named Nikola Jokic on their side. Nevertheless, Puerto Rico have proven themselves to be a pesky squad led by talented guards, who can quickly turn the tide in their team’s favor on any given moment. 

Home: Serbia (0-1)

Projected Starting Five:

• Aleksa Avramovic 
• Bogdan Bogdanovic 
• Ognjen Dobric 
• Filip Petrusev 
• Nikola Jokic

Serbia lost to the United States in their Olympics opener, 110-84. On the bright side for Serbia, they know that it can’t get tougher for them going forward, having already faced the top-ranked team in the world. The final score would have also looked more favorable for Serbia had it not for Kevin Durant transforming into a mythical basketball creature.

Jokic led Serbia against Team USA with 20 points, five rebounds, and eight assists, thus becoming the first Serbian to have a 20-5-5- game in the Olympics. Meanwhile, Bogdan Bogdanovic dropped 14 points to go with six boards. As a team, Serbia shot just 41.9 FG% versus the USA, but they should find it easier to get buckets against Puerto Rico, who are a lot easier for the European powerhouse to match up with. Nikola Jovic, who went just 1/6 from the field in the USA game should be able to find his rhythm this Wednesday.

Picks

Spread: Serbia  (-17.5)

Over/Under: Under (172.5)