Serbia vs Puerto Rico Prediction, Picks, Odds, News, Injury Report 7/31/24

Wednesday afternoon sees Serbia and Puerto Rico matchup in Group C of men’s Olympic basketball. Led by the world’s best player in Nikola Jokic, most Serbia vs Puerto Rico predictions will be backing Serbia for a comfortable win. They are favoured by 17.5 points at Bet365.

Both teams lost their opening games of the tournament, putting the pressure on for this contest in Lille. Puerto Rico are competing in men’s Olympic basketball for the first time since Athens in 2004, while Serbia have a much more impressive Olympic pedigree with a silver medal in Tokyo three years ago.

With Olympic basketball getting underway, our Expert Insights are stacked with basketball betting tips. Expert Sam Cox will have his best bets throughout the regular season.

Serbia vs Puerto Rico Prediction and Picks: Jokic Features In Bet Builder

• Nikola Jokic over 6.5 assists
• Serbia moneyline

Bet Builder Odds: 1.80

Odds updated on July 29th 2024. 

The 17.5-point spread is just a bit too big for us to take Serbia to cover. Instead, we are delving into the bet builders to find value here. This pairing might only be 1.80, but it looks like an excellent option for this matchup.

Serbia are by far the superior team with the best player in the world leading the offence. An undersized Puerto Rico team will be forced to throw doubles at Nikola Jokic whenever he gets the ball close to the paint – the three-time NBA MVP will be able to pick their defence apart. Serbia has plenty of shooting to take advantage of Jokic’s once-in-a-lifetime passing ability.

Jokic just had eight dimes against the USA. Serbia will be much more productive offensively in this matchup, so we could easily see him get into double digits.

Serbia vs Puerto Rico Game Info

• Stadium: Pierre Mauroy Stadium
• Location: Lille, France
• Start time: 16:15 UK time

Serbia News, Injury Report, Schedule: Pressure Building

Ultimately outplayed by the USA on Sunday, Serbia are still rightly favoured over Puerto Rico here. They beat Japan and Greece in emphatic fashion in their last two warm-up games and stayed close to the US until the second half.

There is some pressure on Nikola Jokic and co. here, though. They disappointed at EuroBasket a couple of years ago and didn’t qualify for the last Olympics. This is their best chance of medalling at an Olympic Games in a long time, but a slip up here would leave them teetering on the brink of elimination before taking on South Sudan.

Puerto Rico News, Injury Report, Schedule: Five Losses In A Row

Puerto Rico are very dependent on Jose Alvarado, who scored 26 points against South Sudan. Alvarado is the only NBA player on their roster.

There’s a real lack of size across the roster, with only one player measuring taller than 6’8. That seems like a problem against Nikola Jokic.

Lacking tournament experience, Puerto Rico have been overmatched when they have faced any of the world’s top teams. That includes a 17-point loss to Serbia in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. They have lost their last five games.

Serbia vs Puerto Rico H2H: Serbia In The Ascendancy

Serbia have won all five of their games against Puerto Rico across a variety of competitions. They have covered the spread in four of those.

Serbia are ranked fourth in the world, 12 places ahead of Puerto Rico.

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