Rio Olympics: Team USA men’s basketball gold medal matchup vs. Serbia, how to watch, date, TV, time – CBSSports.com

Despite some relative struggles throughout the Olympic tourney, Team USA is one victory away from winning gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. That win, however, will not be easy, as the U.S. will be facing a Serbia team that took it the distance — the Serbians actually had a wide-open 3-pointer to tie the game as time expired — in the group stage.

Here is all the broadcast information, followed by three things to know about the gold-medal matchup.

Date: Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016

Time: 2:45 p.m. ET

TV: NBCSN

Streaming: NBC Sports

1. USA has all the pressure

Despite the narrow margin of victory in their first meeting, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has the U.S. at 15.5-point favorites over Serbia, and it’s hard to argue with a line like that. At first glance, it might even seem low given the talent disparity here.

But then, the Americans have a huge talent advantage in every game they play. This could largely be about the U.S. team’s ability, or inability, to control emotions. Of the 12 players on the U.S. roster, only Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant have won an Olympic gold medal. This game will feel different than any game most of these guys have ever played in, probably including the NBA Finals for guys like Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Expectations can be a bear. The U.S., by most accounts, has fallen a bit short of expectations throughout this tournament, at times looking legitimately vulnerable against inferior opponents. If the Americans come out too amped up and get a little sloppy, and Serbia can hit a few shots and extend the game into the second half while remaining within reasonable striking distance, the U.S. might tighten up with the prospect of a colossal choke job staring it down.

The U.S. is more than capable of putting this game out of reach by halftime, but by the same token, Serbia, which is playing with house money, has proven it can hang with this team, and the longer the underdogs hang around on Sunday, the more pressure the Americans will feel.

2. Keep your eye on Klay

In the first matchup, Klay Thompson was a nonfactor. Still coming off the bench at that point, Thompson was having a rough go in Rio, and that continued against Serbia, which held him to three points on 1-of-6 shooting. Thompson, who has been inserted into the starting lineup, has since found his stroke in a big way, almost single-handedly carrying the U.S. offense at times.

Thompson is a real X-factor for the Americans because much of the defensive attention will be devoted to Durant and Anthony — though both (Durant’s team-leading 17.9 points per game notwithstanding) have struggled to consistently score at an efficient level in this tournament. Still, they’re the threats, the real matchup problems, and as a result Klay, who led the U.S. with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting (4 of 8 from three) in the semifinal vs. Spain, is going to continue getting open looks.

If he’s knocking them down the way he has been of late, Serbia probably has no chance.

3. Olympic miracles have happened before

Look no further than the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team. Everyone knows the story. We had no chance, people said. The Soviet Union was unbeatable. They had won the previous four gold medals — 1964, ’68, ’72 and ’76. The game was a formality … until it wasn’t.

The truth is, anything can happen in one game. If this was a seven-game series, Serbia would have absolutely no chance. You could bet every last dollar to your name — your kid’s college fund, your retirement, your house, everything — on the U.S. and not break a single bead of sweat. But it’s one game. Weird stuff happens. Teams go cold. Teams get hot. Time gets away from you. It can happen.

Realistically, the only way it actually could happen is if Serbia, first, keeps the Americans out of the open court, which is easier said than done. The Serbs simply don’t have the athleticism to keep up in transition. This means they have to take care of the ball. Live-ball turnovers are going to be a U.S. dunk almost every time. Serbia is a gritty team, and if it can keep the game at its pace, ugly it up, manage the inevitable U.S spurts , maybe, possibly, lightning could strike.

This is what happened in the first matchup. Six U.S. players scored in double figures in that game, led by Irving’s 15, but nobody took the game over. On the other end, Serbia got big games out of Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, who finished with 25 points, as well as Milos Teodosic, who finished with 18 including four 3-pointers. That’s another key. The 3-point line — an underdog’s X-factor. Get hot from downtown and for one game, all bets can be off.