Team USA vs. Serbia: Olympic Showdown with Jokic in Focus
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00:00Okay, so Team USA takes on Serbia. I thought, Jacob, from watching their last game, it was
00:09their best performance of the Olympics. You and I both know that this is, you know, for
00:14us here on SportsGrid, somewhat more about the point spread than it is about wins and
00:18losses. And let's just be honest, Team USA was not covering any games in the warm-ups,
00:23the group stage. Now we're at the point where covering is going to be important, because
00:29again, they want to win and they want to dominate. They take on a very good Serbia
00:34team, 16.5-point favorites, led by one player and one player only. You see him there. We
00:39all know him, former MVP of the NBA, Nikola Jokic. All right, Jacob, you're on the line
00:45here. Do they win? Do they cover? What's the final score? I need an exact... No, I'm just
00:50kidding. I'm not going to need an exact score. But what do you think happens today?
00:54I do think the United States are going to win. I mean, we've seen them play Serbia twice
00:58now recently, and they've dominated both times. Maybe not in the first half. It's been
01:03close at times. Nikola Jokic keeps Serbia kind of in it, kind of within striking distance.
01:08But Team USA was able to pull away in both of their previous meetings. And they're getting
01:13better as this tournament goes along. They're developing more chemistry. They're finding
01:17the matchups that they really need to take advantage in this spot. And I know the first
01:21time they played Serbia, Joel Embiid didn't have his greatest game, and Nikola Jokic was
01:26kind of able to beat him on this world stage because Embiid just, yeah, I don't think is
01:31as familiar with the international version of basketball as the NBA style. So Jokic had
01:38the advantage there. But I think if Steve Kerr is willing to use Anthony Davis and Bam
01:42Adebayo more in this game, I think the United States can cover this one too. Like I said
01:47earlier, it might be a one where in the first half you're like, oh, Serbia's hanging in
01:51It's kind of within striking distance. Jokic is looking good. But LeBron James has been
01:56dominating as the point forward type, setting up his teammates. Devin Booker started really
02:01hitting triples last game against Brazil. I think if they can get some hot shooting out
02:05of him and Steph Curry can't stay this cold. He's five of 20 on threes. He can't stay this
02:10cold forever, right? So I think if they have a good game from beyond the arc, I think they
02:15can take down Serbia and win by about 20 points and cover. All right, there you go. 20 points
02:20is the margin of victory for Team USA, says Jacob Kammacher. We'll clip this, save it,
02:26and if it wins, we post it. If not, we just forget it. No, I'm just kidding. All right,
02:29Nikoli Jokic, he is the favorite to be the top point scorer at plus 140. Bogdan Bogdanovich
02:34at plus 400. LeBron, seven to one. Durant has played well. He's seven and a half to one.
02:39And then everybody else is a long shot here. If you don't take Jokic to be the top point
02:43scorer, Jacob, today, who else would it be? I would strongly consider Kevin Durant at
02:50plus 750 odds. I mean, that looks good to me. We know that Kevin Durant is the most prolific
02:55Team USA scorer in history. He just passed Lisa Leslie for that mark at the Olympics. So
03:00I think if you're looking for a guy who can just fill up the basket and when he's hot, he's hot.
03:05I think earlier in the tournament, he had a half where he scored 25 or 27 points on 10 of 10
03:11shooting with some free throws mixed in. So I think if you're not taking Jokic there, go with
03:15Durant and just say, hey, if he's if he's hot out of the gate, Team USA will ride him. I think
03:21any issue with taking an American player is if this turns into a blowout, all the scores are
03:26going to be well rounded. And, you know, they're not going to take Nikola Jokic out for Serbia
03:30in a blowout because there's a certain amount of pride on the line. But KD at those odds,
03:34that intrigues me at least enough to consider that.