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David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer
Team USA needed a late basket by LeBron James to avoid being upset by South Sudan 11 days ago. The U.S. was a 43.5-point favorite in that exhibition game in London and won by only one.
Oddsmakers made a significant adjustment to the line for Wednesday’s rematch in Paris.
Team USA was a 29.5-point favorite over South Sudan on Wednesday morning, hours ahead of the 3 p.m. ET tipoff. Most of the early betting interest at sportsbooks had been on the underdogs, with nearly 70% of the bets on South Sudan to cover the spread at ESPN BET.
Jeff Sherman, a veteran Las Vegas NBA oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook, opened the line at Team USA -31.5 and received enough support from the betting public on South Sudan to drive the number down to -29.5.
“[South Sudan] has looked respectable,” Sherman told ESPN in a text message. “Would have to think USA will come out focused and not overlook them at all now, so [I] didn’t want to go too low.”
South Sudan is a 30-1 underdog to beat the U.S. on Wednesday at the SuperBook.
Team USA pulled away to defeat Serbia on Sunday, while South Sudan knocked off Puerto Rico in the country’s Olympic debut. The line on that game opened as high as Puerto Rico -5 but closed with South Sudan as a small favorite.
South Sudan, which does not have a current NBA player on its roster, led by as many 16 in its first meeting with the U.S. James hit a layup with eight seconds left to help Team USA avoid the upset.
James is a -105 favorite to be named MVP of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament at ESPN BET, followed by Kevin Durant at +400 and Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at +800.