Fresh off a rather clean win over a talented South Sudan side, Team USA will aim to remain perfect in their third game of the 2024 Olympic Games when they take on Puerto Rico to begin the weekend.

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(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The United States has been flying offensively in Paris and will look to keep that up against a defensive-minded Puerto Rican team which succumbed to an overwhelming Serbian side to fall to 0-2 late in the week. Can they remain on the throttle and run up the score, or will Puerto Rico take belief from its upset victory over the U.S. years ago in this event?

Let's get right into the best way to bet on USA vs Puerto Rico in the Men's Basketball competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday, Aug 3.

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USA VS PUERTO RICO FANDUEL ODDS FOR AUGUST 3

SPREAD

• UNITED STATES: -34.5 (-110)
• PUERTO RICO: +34.5 (-110)

OVER/UNDER (TOTAL)

• OVER: 189.5 (-110)
• UNDER: 189.5 (-110)

HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS: USA VS PUERTO RICO

Olympic Matchups:

• USA leads the all-time head-to-head at the Olympics 5-1

Last Meeting:

• 8/15/2004: Puerto Rico 92, United States 73

2024 OLYMPIC BASKETBALL ODDS: USA VS PUERTO RICO BEST BET

We did note earlier that this Puerto Rican team is defensive-minded, spearheaded by NBA guard Jose Alvarado who can make life difficult on any player around the perimeter and wreak havoc with his hands.

Well, that approach hasn't produced very many results for the underdogs here. They stand at 0-2 in group play and after allowing 90 points to South Sudan turned around and let Serbia pour in 107.

The offense continues to sputter, shooting just 35.7% from the field and mustering up 72.5 points per game -- both of which rank dead last among the 12 teams competing.

• This is rather new for Puerto Rico after they scored 88.8 per game at last year's FIBA World Cup to rank ninth among 32 nations. They shot 38.8% in that competition, but have fallen short at just 34.4% here in Paris.

The United States surrendered 37.9% shooting from outside to South Sudan last time out, which might give the Puerto Ricans a glimmer of hope here.

If they can see some shooting variance kick in after two tough showings shooting the basketball, they can keep this one relatively close and should be able to rely on Alvarado who dropped 25 points on South Sudan before he was held in check by Serbia.

I expect some positive regression to the mean for Puerto Rico given this Team USA defense has allowed a generous 85 points per game in Paris and has done most of its best work inside the arc. That's where Puerto Rico really struggles, and with that we should see points flowing in this one.

Best Bet: Over 189.5 (-110 at FanDuel)

LEBRON JAMES BETTING ODDS AND PREDICTIONS FOR USA VS PUERTO RICO

We backed LeBron James to hit the Over on his points total last game against South Sudan, and after a great first half which saw him drop 10 points he was relegated to the bench due to turnovers and the emergence of Bam Adebayo in that one.

Puerto Rico's been incredibly weak on the wings and down low, allowing Marial Shayok to go for 15 points in their opening game and allowing 13 points apiece against Bogdan Bogdanovic and Vasilije Micic of Serbia.

• The plan of attack here for Team USA should be to take the ball inside and score, and there are few better to believe in to execute that gameplan than James.

Captain LeMerica has hit this Over in four straight games, including qualifying, and he eclipsed the mark in four of his last five games at the 2012 Olympics.

• I expect more of the same here from James, who should clean up his act with the turnovers and earn 20 or more minutes once again.
• He should be relied upon heavily for scoring.

Best Bet:?LeBron James Over 13.5 Points (-122 at FanDuel)