Australia vs. Serbia – Rio 2016 Olympics Men’s Basketball Semifinal Predictions, Picks and Betting Preview – August 19, 2016

Australia vs. Serbia Betting Preview

Where: Carioca Arena 1, Rio de Janeiro

When: Friday, August 19, 6:00 PM ET

Line: Australia (-5) vs. Serbia (+5); total: 164.5– view all men’s Olympic basketball lines

TV Broadcast: NBCSN / NBCOlympics.com

Writer’s Pick: Serbia

Cash In on the Best Online Sportsbook Offers Now at TopBet!

Special Deposit Bonuses

Exclusive Betting Props

$250 Welcome Bonus

Tiered Deposit Bonuses

Betting on Australia (-5)

Australia is one win away from playing in their first-ever Olympic men’s basketball gold medal match. And with the way they’re playing in the tournament, it would hardly be a surprise if they got there.

Australia booked a spot in the semis thanks to a merciless 90-64 beatdown of European power Lithuania in the quarterfinals.

Like in most of their games in Rio, the Aussies was on target on offense, shooting 52.4 percent from the field and nailed 10 of their 25 three-point attempts. Australia has lots of knockdown shooters on its roster, which includes the backcourt tandem of NBA players Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills. The duo drilled 11 treys together in the Lithuania game. Australia is tops in the Olympics with an incredible 51.7% field goal shooting.

Speaking of NBA players, Australia also has big man Andrew Bogut, who is more than capable of anchoring the team’s interior defense while being a threat down low on offense. There’s also Aaron Baynes playing with a bigger role than he’s used to as a roster filler in the NBA. Baynes is pacing the team with 5.7 rebounds per game, while Bogut swats away 1.2 shots per contest.

Betting on Serbia (+5)

Serbia had a rougher journey to the semifinal round than Australia, as it had to eke out a narrow 86-83 victory against Croatia in the quarters. Now that they’ve reached this far, though, expect the Serbians to go all out.

The Serbians have a complete team that is capable of matching well against any other squad. They even made USA sweat bullets in an earlier matchup in the tournament. Serbia’s big men combo of Miroslav Raduljica and Nikola Jokic can give Australia headaches on defense. Raduljica leads Serbia with 16.7 PPG, while Jokic (9.7 PPG) can spread the floor well with his deft outside shooting for a big.

Serbia also has a talented wing player in Bogdan Bogdanovic, who’s putting up 14.2 PPG on 51.6% shooting.

Then there’s Milos Teodosic, author of this insane pass against USA and the point guard of this dangerous Serbian side. Teodosic has averaged 11.0 PPG and 5.8 APG.

Writer’s Prediction

Serbia wins.

Create a betting account now to win big from the huge number of Olympic betting lines that we have to offer!

3,452 total views