Argentina vs. Nigeria Olympic Basketball: Start Time, Live Stream, TV Info

Nigeria has another tough challenge Saturday as they take on Argentina.

Reeling from a devastating 156-73 loss, Nigeria will attempt to salvage some of their national pride as the medal-hopeful Argentinians enter the picture. The USA set the single-game scoring record in the Olympics against Nigeria with the 157 points they put up on Thursday night.

Manu Ginobili and his countrymen are coming off of a tough-fought win against Tunisia in their last contest. The game was close until the second quarter when Ginobili decided it was time to stop messing around.

Can Ginobili and his NBA-filled Argentinian roster be upset by the Nigerians? It’s more likely they will score at will much like the Americans did two nights prior.

Sure, Nigeria is going to be upset about their embarrassing loss. But can their anger and disappointment carry them to a turnaround performance only days later?

Here is everything you need to know about Argentina vs. Nigeria.

Where: Basketball Arena, London
When: Saturday, August 4 at 5:15 p.m. ET
Watch: NBC Speciality: Basketball or online at NBCOlympics.com
Betting Line: Argentina by 18.5 (Bovada)

What They’re Saying

Argentina is the favorite, despite its struggles with France and Tunisia early on. 

The Nigerians do play intense team basketball, but will be severely short-handed against the NBA-filled Argentinian roster. Hopefully, they can mount a better defense for the scoring power of the Argentinians.

After their devastating loss to the Americans, Nigerian PG Tony Skinn said, “It was like an open gym for them.”

That has to hurt.

The Argentinians, though, aren’t overlooking anyone in this competition.

Most Important Player to Watch: Manu Ginobili

Manu Ginobili is the heart and soul of the Argentina national basketball team. When he wants to, he has the ability to take control of a basketball game and put his team completely on his shoulders. He’s proven to be one of the best players in the 2012 Olympics, averaging 23.5 PPG and leading his team to a 2-1 record.

Key Matchup: Luis Scola vs. Ike Diogu

Diogu, the former NBA washout, was the lone bright spot of an otherwise terrible performance by the Nigerian national team against the USA on Thursday evening.

Argentina will likely matchup their best post player in order to try to neutralize the threat of Diogu down-low.

This matchup will provide a critical piece of scouting information for Diogu if he hopes to ever return to the NBA and will likely provide him with plenty of motivation to have a breakout-type game.

Getting the upset win, while playing effectively against Scola, an NBA-caliber player, would likely benefit him more than scoring 27 points in a blowout against Team USA.

Prediction

After allowing Team USA to set the Olympic scoring record, it is very doubtful they can come back two days later with any type of confidence and shut down Ginobili and his Argentinian squad.

Ginobili, Scola and Carlos Delfino are playing on the same page and losing to Nigeria would be a huge shocker at this point for the medal round-minded Argentinians.

The entire Argentinian starting lineup is made up of NBA players. Players who have been playing together for some time now and who are reaching their peak as pool play begins to come to an end.

Will Nigeria be blasted like they were against the USA? No, that probably won’t happen. But their chances of winning are slim-to-none.

Argentina by 24