Team USA has beaten Serbia twice in the last three weeks, both by 26 points. Will it remain the same or can the Serbians respond?

Catch the game early on Thursday, August 8th, at 3:00 AM, Manila time.

USA (4-0)

Starting five:

  • Stephen Curry
  • Devin Booker
  • LeBron James
  • Bam Adebayo
  • Anthony Davis

Team USA is routing opponents as expected. They are averaging 109.8 points per game in the tournament with an average winning margin of 24.8 points, one of which was against Serbia in the opener, 110-84.

Oldheads Kevin Durant and LeBron James spearheaded the attack, scoring 23 and 21 points, respectively, with the former starting a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor, and flexing his all-around game by adding seven rebounds and nine assists. They should be able to do as such again, but we all know how things quickly change with such a talented roster. Anyone between Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, or Anthony Davis can suddenly be the focal point at any given game, so we’ll see.

It should be, noted, however, that the guys are pretty even vs. Serbia in their Group stage battle whenever Nikola Jokic was on the floor, going 81-81 when he’s on, and an astoundingly lopsided 29-3 when he’s off. The Americans ought to be careful as the Serbians may have something better up their sleeve this time around.

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Serbia (3-1)

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

After receiving a 26-point beating from Team USA, Serbia racked up three-straight wins: 107-66 vs. Puerto Rico, 96-85 vs. South Sudan, and a come-from-behind, 95-90 overtime thriller vs. Australia in the quarterfinals, where they rallied back from 24 points down.

Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic is doing his usual Swiss-Army Knife statline by putting up a complete line of 19.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game, on top of an efficient 60.4% shooting from the floor. Bogdan Bogdanovic is backing him up nicely with 18.5p / 4.5r / 4.3a with a 48.1% clip from downtown on 6.3 attempts. There’s also Vasilie Micic, also an NBA cager, who’s at 13.3p and 5.0a in the tournament.

But, of course, the team should look to be more cohesive without Jokic. They tend to fall apart or be all over the place–particularly on offense–whenever he’s resting, as seen in almost every game thus far.

PICKS:

Spread: Serbia (+16)

Over/Under: Over (187.5)

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