Olympic Basketball 2016: Men's Gold, Bronze-Medal Games Schedule and Predictions
It wasn't always easy, but the United States men's basketball team will nonetheless compete for gold in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
After beating Spain in Friday's semifinal matchup, Team USA will vie for its third-consecutive gold medal. It's hardly a formality. Serbia, who fell to the favored Americans by three points in preliminary play, demolished Australia to secure its first medal ever in Olympic basketball.
Following losses on Friday, Spain and Australia will settle for a consolatory bronze-medal match. While it's a step down for Spain, who earned silver in 2008 and 2012, the Aussies can claim their first medal in their fourth bronze bout.
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Let's break down both medal games scheduled for Sunday.
| Sun., 8/21 | Spain vs. Australia | Bronze | 10:30 a.m. | NBCSN |
| Sun., 8/21 | United States vs. Serbia | Gold | 2:45 p.m. | NBC |
Gold: United States vs. Serbia
On August 12, Serbia stormed back in the fourth quarter before ultimately dropping a 94-91 thriller to Team USA. The underdogs at least know they can hang with the basketball powerhouse.
Serbia doesn't carry as many experienced NBA pros as Spain and Australia, but 21-year-old Nikola Jokic could become an instant legend by leading the upset. In their last meeting, the Denver Nuggets center went 11-of-15 for 25 points and six rebounds.
It's unfair to call his Rio performance a coming-out party, as he finished third in NBA Rookie of the Year voting with an incredibly efficient campaign. Basketball-Reference's Twitter account highlighted his resounding first-year value on a per-minute basis:
Serbia's rise to the final showdown isn't a major stunner either. The same two teams were left standing in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Final, which the U.S. won by 37. As noted by NBA.com's John Schuhmann, the runner-up took a strikingly similar path to Sunday's gold-medal match:
In Rio's game against Serbia, Klay Thompson went 1-of-6 with three points in a team-low nine minutes. The streaky shooting guard turned a corner on Friday, tallying a team-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. After the bounce-back performance, he looked ahead to Team USA's final showdown, per USAB.com.
“When the stakes are the highest is when we all play the best, and there won’t be any higher (stakes) than on Sunday,” Thompson said. “Expect a great effort from all of us.”
Thompson might not necessarily lead the way again. Maybe it's Kevin Durant's turn. Or perhaps Game 7 of the NBA Finals gave Kyrie Irving an appetite for big moments. The real key is whether the small roster containing Jokic enough to play a quicker pace.
While Serbia has a size advantage, Team USA wields too much athleticism to stymie on the scoreboard. Expect more gold for the U.S.
Prediction: United States 94, Serbia 79
Bronze: Spain vs. Australia
Everything was shaping up for Australia to give the Americans a challenge. Before Friday's 87-61 embarrassment, the Boomers led everyone with a 51.7 field-goal percentage, ranking second in points per game (89.0) and average scoring margin (plus-17.0).
After posting 95 points on Serbia in preliminary play, Australia finished the semifinal's first half with 14.
The Aussies can't possibly play as poorly again. It takes a special kind of awful to shoot 4-of-31 from three-point range. Watching Andrew Bogut's brilliant Rio run stutter into a four-point flop was also jarring.
Spain, meanwhile, simply suffered the misfortune of facing the U.S. a round earlier than usual. In a feisty contest featuring five first-half technical fouls, the back-to-back silver medalists couldn't capitalize on a sloppy battle.
Pau Gasol kept his team afloat with 23 points, but Sergio Rodriguez (11) was his only teammate to also reach double digits. ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton tracked everyone's poor shooting outside of the six-time NBA All-Star:
Before losing to the U.S., Spain recovered from a sluggish Olympic start, winning three games by a combined 94 points. Ricky Rubio and Nikola Mirotic woke up to support Gasol before slipping back into a slumber on Friday.
Two of the field's stingiest defenses will produce a tightly contested stalemate determined by the star big men down low. At its worst, Spain has lost ugly, low-scoring affairs by narrow margins, but it hasn't endured a demoralizing dud like the one that derailed Australia's chances of gold.
Gasol may not get another chance to compete for an Olympic medal, so look for him to lead a more balanced attack to salvage Spain's summer.
Prediction: Spain 78, Australia 75
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