The United States are the heavy favourites in Olympic Men’s Basketball betting at Pinnacle Sports. Can they overcome injury concerns and repeat their gold-medal performance at the 2008 Olympics?
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose and Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard will both miss the Olympics this summer, as Rose suffered a torn ACL in the opening game of the playoffs and Howard was forced to have back surgery to fix a herniated disc. Two other players from the U.S.A.’s preliminary roster also have serious injuries, with the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chauncey Billups suffering a torn Achilles and the Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge set to undergo hip surgery.
That leaves the poor Americans with a 12-player roster of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Andre Iguodala, Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Anthony Davis – so even without Rose and Howard available the U.S.A. team still has plenty of talent at their disposal.
Currently the USA stand as favourites to win the gold medal (Pinnacle Sports lists them at -815), with every other nation priced at +676. Spain, who lost in the final to the Americans back in the 2008 Olympics by a 118-107 score, are available at +701 to win the gold medal, with the Spaniards also at -850 to not win the tournament in London this summer.
Spain is considered the biggest challenger to the Americans at the Olympics this summer, as their roster features the likes of Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Jose Calderon. Point guard Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves won’t play for the Spanish team in London because of a knee injury.
The United States will be joined by Argentina, France, Tunisia, and a pair of qualifiers in Group A at the Olympic Men’s Basketball tournament, while Spain’s Group B also includes Australia, Brazil, China, host Great Britain, and another qualifier (the qualifying tournament will be held July 2-8 in Venezuela). Argentina beat Lithuania for the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics after losing to the United States in the semi-finals. Greece, Australia, Croatia, and China also made it into the quarterfinal round at the ’08 event.
Women’s Basketball Betting
The Women’s Basketball also sees the USA as huge favourites (Pinnacle Sports lists them at -820), as they aim to retain their title after they triumphed in Beijing in 2008.
Their nearest rivals are Australia (+787 to win gold) and Russia (+1128).
Canada has qualified for the women’s tournament but their longshot odds have not been listed at Pinnacle Sports.
*Odds as of July 19
Pinnacle Sports is our most highly-recommended sportsbook to use for betting on any sport, not just because of the wide variety of betting options it offers but also because it offers the best odds in the industry.