Australia is not having a great Olympics but it is still alive in the competition. Serbia, on the other hand, is peaking, as it heads to the quarterfinals for a showdown versus the Boomers. Will Australia shock Serbia? Or, will Serbia send Australia home?

Catch this game live on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at 8:30 PM, Manila time

Away: Serbia (2-1)

Projected Starting Five:

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

Serbia barges into the knockout stages of the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning two of three games in group play. The Serbians’ only loss in the previous stage was against world No. 1 United States, 110-84. Nikola Jokic and company rebounded from that defeat by pounding Puerto Rico in a 107-66 victory before ending the dreams of South Sudan to advance in a 96-85 win.

 If not for the presence of the United States, Serbia would have likely been the best team in Paris entering the quarterfinals. So far in the tournament, Serbia is second overall with an average of 95.7 points per game. It is also second with a 52.6 percent shooting from the field. After outlasting a tall and athletic South Sudan side, the Serbians will be facing another physical team in Australia. 

Jokic will be a big problem for Australia which should find it hard to match up against the three-time NBA MVP. But Jokic is far from the only threat to Australia, with guys like Bogdan Bogdanovic and Vasilije Micic playing well in the Olympics. Bogdanovic had 22 points against South Sudan, while Micic had 15.

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Home: Australia (1-2)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Josh Giddey
  • Patty Mills
  • Dyson Daniels 
  • Nick Kay
  • Jock Landale

The Boomers can consider themselves lucky that they are still in contention in the Olympics after finishing with a 1-2 record in group play. Things started fine in Paris for Australia when it defeated Spain in the opener, 92-80. But the wheels fell off after that for Brian Goorjian’s squad, as Australia got thumped by Canada (93-83) and Greece (77-71). Nevertheless, Australia has made it to the quarterfinal, albeit with a date against a tough opponent in the form of Serbia waiting for Josh Giddey and company this Tuesday. 

Australia is known for its physical brand of basketball, but it needs more than that to upset Serbia. For one, the Australians need to stop shooting themselves in the foot with self-inflicted mistakes. Australia has the second-most turnovers in the tournament with 50. In the loss to Greece, Australia had 16 turnovers which were turned into 20 points by Giannis Antetokounmpo & Co.  Good old Patty Mills remains a key figure for Australia, as he is averaging 13.3 points. 

Jock Landale is leading Australia with 17.7 points per game but he’ll have a tough time reaching that average, as he’ll be matched up against Jokic. But with Giddey around, Australia can still expect quality playmaking on offense.

Picks

Spread: Serbia (-6.5)

Over/Under: Over(172.5)

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