The USA women's basketball team begins its journey in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo with an intriguing matchup. Team USA takes on Nigeria on Tuesday with an early morning tip-off time for domestic viewers. It is the first of three contests scheduled for the squad in Group B. Team USA is a heavy favorite to claim the gold, and they defeated Nigeria by a 31-point margin in a pre-Olympic exhibition game.
Tip-off is set for Tuesday at 12:40 a.m. ET. William Hill Sportsbook has Team USA listed as a 29.5-point favorite. Team USA is also listed at -10000 on the money line (risk $10000 to win $100), while the Over-Under is set at 153.5.
Before making any 2020 Olympics bets, be sure to see what SportsLine's Olympics expert, Mike Tierney, has to say.
A national sportswriter whose work appears in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney has covered nine Olympic Games in person. For Rio in 2016, Tierney profited big-time. He told readers to bet Over on Team USA's gold medal count (41.5) and Over on Team USA's overall medal count (102.5). The result? 46 golds, 121 medals and two easy cashes.
And for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Tierney hit two of his three predictions: Germany (+200) to win the most gold medals and the United States winning Under 10.5 gold medals (+110).
Now, with the Tokyo Summer Olympics underway, Tierney has analyzed every angle of Tuesday's USA-Nigeria women's basketball matchup and he's leaning on the Under for the point total.
He's also identified an x-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. You ABSOLUTELY need to see what he has to say before locking in your picks.
Who wins Tuesday's USA vs. Nigeria matchup? And what X-factor makes one side of the spread a MUST-BACK? Join SportsLine right now to find out which team in the USA vs. Nigeria game you should back against the spread, all from the expert who has crushed his Olympic picks!
Tierney's pick:
Team USA -30.5
Oddsmakers appear to have leaned heavily on the recent exhibition game between these combatants, which the U.S. won by 31 points. The Americans tend not to mess around in group play. In 2016, they opened with a 67-point devastation of Senegal and swept the following four outings by an average of 35. Nigeria is reeling from the failed effort to add WNBA standouts Nneka Ogwunike and Elizabeth Wilson, who would have been its premier players.
With the pair's appeal for instatement denied, Nigeria's already lofty odds to win the tournament skyrocketed. The U.S. coaching staff will benefit from the exhibition matchup with a game plan to exploit Nigeria's (considerable) weaknesses. The roster shapes up as the deepest and strongest ever, which is saying something for a country that has claimed the last six golds. If there is a concern on covering this spread, it's whether the sprinkling of gifted but aging veterans will pace themselves.
