Spain vs Slovenia
August 1, 2021 4:20 am EDT
The Line: Slovenia -2.5
(Get latest betting odds)
Spain and Slovenia meet Sunday morning in the 2020 Olympics in a basketball meeting at the Saitama Super Arena. Spain look for a win to improve to 3-0 and win Group C. Slovenia also look for a 3-0 start to win Group C.
Spain is fresh off a win over Argentina and has won six of its last seven games overall. In the winning effort, Spain shot 52.6 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three. Ricky Rubio led Spain with 26 points and five rebounds while Sergio Llull had 10 points and one rebound. Pau Gasol dished two assists and Victor Claver grabbed two rebounds. Defensively, Spain allowed 42.6 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent shooting from three. Spain has been solid defensively through two games and is an experienced club that’s been on a roll since EuroBasket qualifying back in February. It may not always be flashy, but Spain is going to help decide who comes away with the gold medal in Tokyo.
Slovenia just beat up on Japan and is riding an eight-game winning streak. In the winning effort, Slovenia shot 53.8 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three. Luka Doncic led Slovenia with 25 points and seven rebounds while Zoran Dragic had 24 points and four rebounds. Vlatko Cancar was the third double-digit scorer and Klemen Prepelic grabbed four rebounds. Defensively, Slovenia allowed 41.6 percent shooting from the field and 38.7 percent shooting from three. Slovenia has won eight straight games since June and has topped 100 points in four of its last six games. While Doncic gets most of the credit for Slovenia, the offensive depth is showing more and more and this club is becoming scarier. Slovenia is not a team to overlook as we soon enter the knockout stages.
Spain has won six of the last eight meetings against Slovenia, including the most recent meeting in a 2018 World Cup qualifying. Slovenia’s last win over Spain came in a 2017 EuroBasket Semifinal.
You can make a case for either of these teams with the way they’ve played up to this point. Spain and free points is hard to turn down in international play. However, there’s no betting against Slovenia and Doncic, as this team is downright rolling and has been an offensive machine. Slovenia has been a buzzsaw these last two months.
I’ll lay the bucket with Slovenia.
