Tough day today going 1-2. Here's what happened:
U.S.A. (-20) v. France XXXX
U.S.A. (over 100.5) v. France XXXX
This bet looked decent heading into the fourth quarter, as the U.S. had a 81-69 lead over the French. But the U.S. got dominated in the fourth, getting outscored 28-19 and allowing a 12 point lead to shrink to 3.
The over bet loss was a heartbreaker, as the U.S. needed just one more point to cover. They hit 100 on a Demarcus Cousins dunk with 1:25 remaining, but missed their last three shots and failed to get to 101.
The U.S. is undefeated, but I think its safe to say they have been awful this Olympics. The amount of talent Team U.S.A. has compared to the rest of the field is ridiculous. The U.S. wouldn't trade any one of their players for any other player in the tournament, and they shouldn't. They were supposed to come in and blow out everyone. They beat both Serbia and France by only 3 points, and were tied with Australia late in the fourth.
Tony Parker didn't even play for France, which makes today's game even worse. Thomas Heurtel, who plays professionally in Turkey, started in his place and was France's best player, dropping 18 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists.
Klay Thompson was the bright spot for the U.S., finally catching fire and dropping 30 points after averaging just 2.7 points over the first four games.
Australia (-20.5) v. Venezuela $$$$
Australia rode a big fourth quarter to cover the spread against Venezuela, defeating them 81-56. The Aussies entered the fourth with only a ten point lead, but outscored the Venezuelans 28-13 in the final quarter.
With Patty Mills resting and Matthew Dellavedova playing limited minutes, Australia some new faces leading the charge. Ryan Broekhoff and Aron Bayes played well inside combining for 18 points and 15 boards. Chris Goulding, who was averaging 0.7 points per game this Olympics, led all scorers with 22.
Australia clinched the two seed in Group A and will play the four seed from Group B on Wednesday.