The United States men's basketball team continues its quest for gold on Monday afternoon by taking on Argentina in Group A action. The preliminary round game is scheduled for a 5:15 p.m. EST start time and it will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network. The 2012 Olympics Basketball USA vs. Argentina Odds and Picks have the Americans as favorites of 23 points with the total for the game set at 185 points.
Today's point spread is the lowest it has been for the Americans since playing in the 2012 Olympics. The total is on the other hand the highest its been for any Olympic game to date this season at 185 points. In other words, oddsmakers are gearing up for an American victory where they probably get close to 100 points scored by themselves. The Americans have done a great job to this point in the tournament, playing with some tough competition in Group A.
On Saturday morning, the United States survived a scare from Lithuania, holding on to win 99-94. While many considered this game to be a bit of a strange occurrence, it's probably a good thing that the Americans got stuck in a close game that forced them to play a complete, solid four quarters without trying to just break records for the amount of points scored.
In today's game, the United States will be playing an Argentina team that has played four games and earned seven total points. Argentina has had great games in this tournament, scoring 102 points against Lithuania, 92 against Tunisia and 93 against Nigeria. However, they struggled in their only loss in the tournament so far, totaling just 64 points against a decent French team. So the question becomes, which Argentina shows up tonight? That could be the major difference in this game.
The Americans return five players from the 2008 Olympians in Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams. Newcomers to the team this year include Tyson Chandler, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Andre Iguodala, and Kevin Love, making them an obvious choice to be the best team assembled in the world. Not many people are expecting any team in the Olympics to even cause the Americans problems in the 2012 Summer Games as the USA is still the massive favorites to win the Gold medal this year in Great Britain.
Free Pick: I like Argentina to COVER the point spread in a game that should see both teams get close, if not over, the 90 point barrier. Argentina can obviously score and while the Americans are going to be the best defensive team they've seen to date, I still think they'll at least stay within 23 points.
Thursday, August 2, 2012 Olympics Basketball Schedule and Odds:
Spain (Group B) -6, Over 149.5
Brazil (Group B) +6, Under 149.5
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