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USA vs Spain Olympic Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 8/3/21

Spain vs USA
August 3, 2021 12:40 am EDT
The Line: USA -12.5
(Get latest betting odds)

Spain and USA meet Tuesday morning in the 2020 Olympics Basketball Quarterfinal at the Saitama Super Arena. Spain finished 2-1 in group play and are coming off a loss to Slovenia. USA also finished 2-1 in group play and is fresh off a win over Czech Republic.

Spain has won nine of its last 11 games and hasn’t lost back-to-back games since early EuroBasket qualifying. In the losing effort, Spain shot 37.7 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three. Ricky Rubio led Spain with 18 points and three rebounds while Alberto Abalde had 14 points and four rebounds. Rudy Fernandez was the third double-digit scorer and Sergio Llull dished one assist. Defensively, Spain allowed 41.9 percent shooting from the field and 31.6 percent shooting from three. Spain has to be disappointed after losing a game where Luka Doncic struggled with foul trouble. Regardless, Spain has been one of the more consistent teams dating back to exhibition play and has been solid on the defensive end.

USA has won four of its last five games since losing its first two exhibition games. In the winning effort, USA shot 61.6 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from three. Jayson Tatum led USA with 27 points and two rebounds while Kevin Durant had 23 points and eight rebounds. Zach LaVine was the third double-digit scorer and Jrue Holiday grabbed three rebounds. Defensively, USA allowed 50 percent shooting from the field and 44.4 percent shooting from three. USA has produced a combined 239 points in its last two games and has shot well above 50 percent from the field. Obviously the competition will be a lot stiffer this time around, but it’s clear the Americans have found their stride over the last week.

Team USA has won the last nine meetings against Spain, including the most recent meeting a couple of weeks ago in a friendly. The last time Spain beat USA was in the 2002 World Cup. 

Spain isn’t a pushover, but we’ve seen better versions of this team and the fact it lost to Slovenia despite Doncic foul trouble is a bad sign. Team USA is starting to find its stride and we know what the Americans are capable of when everybody is rolling. There’s a bit of a swagger developing with Team USA. This number is reasonable.

I’ll lay the chalk with Team USA.

Randy Chambers's Free Pick: USA -12.5

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Randy Chambers

Randy has covered sports betting since 2014 and writes about everything from NFL to WNBA. Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter.

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