We’ve reached the “Final Four,” if you will, of the Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament. Thursday brings us a two-game slate, with these countries playing for a spot in the Gold Medal Game. Let’s breakdown some betting angles.
Germany vs. France
France +5.5 (-115)
The home country was a 7.5-point underdog against Canada on Tuesday, but pulled off a dominant wire-to-wire victory. Canada was probably the second-most talented team in the field behind the USA, with a relatively deep and balanced squad of NBA players, and an MVP-level candidate. It was a pretty impressive victory for France, especially when you consider the lineup adjustments and an off-game for Victor Wembanyama. Rudy Gobert was notably yanked from the starting lineup and played just three minutes off the bench. Wembanyama is the new starting center, and while he shot just 2-of-10 from the field, he showed how he can still dominate the game — 12 rebounds and five assists. A bounce-back game from Wemby, along with the way the rest of the roster is playing, could be scary for Germany.
Germany opened just a one-point favorite in this one, so they’ve taken significant money to see this number grow so much. It’s a nice revenge spot for France, who lost to the Germans by 14 points just six days earlier. I expect a solid performance from the home country, and we’re now getting too many points.
Serbia vs. USA
LeBron James OVER 7.5 Assists (+100)
I wrote up LeBron to go over 6.5 assists at plus money in the last game against Brazil, and he wound up cashing the over by halftime. It was the third time in the four games USA has played that LeBron went over on his assist prop, and over 7.5 still would’ve cashed in all three. I’m fine with the warranted uptick in the number here, as James has gone over this number in two of the games while playing 18 minutes or less, and also dished out nine dimes in 26 minutes in a prior matchup against Serbia. I’d expect LeBron to get a solid workload here given the games getting more important and the competition getting tougher. Look for James to continue to be the engine for Team USA.
Place your bets at DraftKings Sportsbook or by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
