Russia plays tough and smart in defense and I am almost sure that D.Blatt will find special tactic in defense to crash Iran offense. Offensively Iran looks like 60-65 points against better team but I expect them to score under 63 points because of Russian defense and bad 3 point shooting percentage. 

Russia on other side is only 76.5 points per game in friendlies and taking into consideration that Iran has ability to defend under 85 points I can't see Russia scoring over 85 points. Sure it is possible because you never know what to expect from such teams like Iran but statisticaly we have enough basis to expect Russian not to score 80 points.

Both teams have weak bench players and that is another reason why I expect low scoring game here.

Prediction: Russia 78 - 57 Iran

Pick: under 147.5 @ 1.85 Sportingbet


Absolutely agree with this line and don't recommend to bet on this match. Germans are all sider better team and they know very well how important this game. Angola showed good skills on Diamond Ball tournament but unfortunately for them Nowitzki and Co will be top-motivated here and should take a win. The only pick I can advice here for TV-bet is Germany to score over 80.5 @ Sportingbet because German team has improved offense and they should dominate on the field with their physical power and long bench. Angola is not a great team in defense so if you want you can try pick.

Prediction: Germany 84 - Angola 70

Pick: Germany over 80.5 @ 1.83 Sportingbet

It should be a great fight. Greece will motivated for revenge but I don't think that this game will have do-or-die status because basicaly this game means nothing for these teams. Both have great offense and looks like public still hold Greece as a slow team and not productive in offense and that's why game total is only 146.5 points. Public expect defensive battle but personaly I expect another scenario. I expect high scoring fast paced game with some defensive sets in deciding moments.

The last time when these opponents met it was last year Eurobasket campaign and that game ended with 82:77 Spain victory with quarters over 38 points. Now we have the same teams, the same players and improved Greek offense. I expect something similar in this match and would not be surprised with 160 points total here. I had expected to see 153.5 points line here and that's another reason why I must take over pick here.

Prediction: Spain 83 - 78 Greece

Pick: Over 147.5 @ 1.96 PinnacleSports

 

Lithuania at the moment looks to be in better form than Argentina. Lithuania has size under baskets where Javtokas, Petravicius and brother Lavrinovic may stop Scola and Oberto in defense. Lithuania have deeper bench and have enough talented leaders like Jasikevicius, Siskauskas, Kaukenas and K.Lavrinovic to match up well with Argentina leaders. Lithuania also have a deeper bench and this should be another advantage over Argentina which has only 7 players who can compete on this level.

I don't expect easy match for any team here but in my opinion Lithuania should be a slight favorite in the bookmakers line. I would set Lithuania as 2.5 favourite here and I think that we have small value here on Lithuania side.

Prediction: Lithuania 85 - 78 Argentina

Pick: Lithuania +2.5 @ 1.96 PinnacleSports


I see no value here. I expect very close game with equal chances to win this one. These teams played 3 friendlies this summer and all matches were close. Croatia won 2  82:81 and 71:69, but lost 3rd 74:78. As you see all games had different range of totals from 140 up to 163 so it is difficult to predict what total we will se today. And neither team was able to win a game by more than 4 points - this fact tell how well teams matchup with each other and really hard match could be expected today. Game is very important for both teams because loser will appear in hard situation and most probably will stay out of quarterfinal stage.

I would not bet on this match but will root for Australia because they impressed me on Diamond Ball Tournament. This is the only reason why I posted Australia as winner in my score prediction below.

Prediction: Croatia 74 - 77 Australia


The last game of the day and I think that there will be sold out arena because of high interest rate in USA Basketball team in China. Chinese NT will have a very tough life here because they are weak in defense and if they will allow americans to run and take rebounds on both boards I see no chances for China in this game. If China will find a way how to defend and not allow easy points than Yao Ming and his team may appear better but unfortunately I can't see them winning this game. But from what I have watched on Diamond Ball tournament China quards are not strong phisally and american should dominate on the field. USA often use half court pressing and steal balls from guards. China often lose balls when trying to deliver ball to Yao Ming and if USA defense will concentrate on Yao Ming expect a lot of turnovers from China and many easy points for USA. Also offensively USA will use their power to score points and if Yao will appear in foul trouble than expect

USA should push game tempo and win this game quite comfortably. They are motivated to show the world their strength and motivation so expect a blow out game with a lot of slam dunks and show-elements. Last time when these team have met on World Championship USA won by 31 point: 121:90. Expect something similar today.

Prediction: China 78 - 112 USA

Pick: USA to score over 107.5 points @ 1.83 10Bet.com

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