The general day of the Rio 2016 Olympics is upon us. Before they snuff out that weird Olympic flame thing in Brazil, first they'll need to hand out the men's basketball medals. Within the bronze medal game will probably be Australia taking over Spain and the gold medal match will feature Serbia taking up the mighty Americans.

Australia vs. Spain (-6.5, 165.5)

With the disgruntlement of one more loss to the powerhouse Americans in semifinal action weighing on them, Spain should accept a place within the bronze-medal match Sunday against Australia. The Spanish are decisive favourites on this one, though they're slowed by a scarcity of motivation after suffering an 82-76 loss to the U.S... in Friday's semifinal matchup.

The Australians could be trying to regroup after being dominated from begin to finish in an 87-61 rout by the hands of Serbia within the other semifinal. Australia managed just 14 points within the first half against the Serbians, and can desire a much stronger effort to hold in against Spain. Australia is seeking its first Olympic medal in men’s basketball, having finished fourth three times.

TV: 10:30 a.m. ET, NBC

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ABOUT AUSTRALIA: Nothing went right at the offensive end against Serbia, because the Australians shot just 6-for-29 (21 percent) from the sector within the first half while not attempting a single free throw. Patty Mills led the best way with 13 points for Australia, which finished at 33.3 percent for the sport while connecting on just four in their 31 attempts from beyond the arc. The Aussies entered with the most productive shooting rate (51.7) within the tournament.

ABOUT SPAIN: A sluggish start was the Spanish side’s undoing against the defending Olympic champions, as they fell behind by nine points after the outlet quarter and couldn’t recover. Their work at the glass left much to be desired, because the Americans out rebounded them 53-41 - including a whopping 21 boards approaching the offensive end. Pau Gasol led the way in which with 23 points and 8 rebounds in defeat.

TRENDS:

* The teams have split four meetings since 1984, with Spain prevailing 82-70 of their most up-to-date encounter four years ago.

* Australia has an important advantage in points within the paint through seven games, averaging 43.7 in comparison to Spain at 33.1.

* Gasol leads the team in tournament scoring at 17.9 points per game, while Mills is the leading scorer for Australia at 17.0.

* Australia G Matthew Dellavedova is second within the tournament in assists (6.9), but had just two helpers against Serbia.

Serbia vs. America (-15, 181.5)

A plucky Serbian side came closest to handing the U.S. a loss in preliminary-round play. They’ll must be even better to succeed in the duty this time around as they face a highly motivated American team in Sunday’s gold-medal showdown. Serbia won just two of 5 games within the group stage, but rolled past Australia 87-61 to achieve the final.

They’ll face all they are able to handle against the U.S., which seized an early lead and used intense defensive pressure to subdue Spain 82-76 in its quest for a 3rd consecutive Olympic championship. Klay Thompson poured in 22 points while DeAndre Jordan was a force with nine points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks. The united states.. has won 74 straight international games.

TV: 2:45 p.m. ET, NBC

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ABOUT SERBIA: Sleep at the Serbians at your individual risk, when they throttled an Australian team that had defeated them by 15 points in group play. Milos Teodosic led the best way with 22 points for the Serbians, who shot a surprising 53.3 percent from the sector and handily outrebounded their foes by a 43-30 margin. Most importantly, not one of the Serbian players spent greater than 28 minutes at the floor - giving the core group some much-needed rest.

ABOUT THE U.S.:.. Friday’s semifinal score flattered the Spaniards, who trailed by as many as 15 points within the fourth quarter before staging an ultimately futile rally. The Americans, who had struggled to play elite defence inside the tournament, held the high-octane Spanish side to 38.9 percent from the ground en path to their 16th finals appearance within the 18th Olympic tournament wherein they have got competed.

TRENDS:

* Both teams rely heavily on their reserves, with Serbia’s bench averaging 41.1 points per game and the yank second-stringers at 40.0.

* The U.S... has a vital rebounding edge through seven games, averaging 44.3 boards per game in comparison to Serbia at 36.4.

* The united states.. has won its last three gold-medal finals by a typical of 9.3 points, after winning the general by a regular of 27.5 points over its previous four gold-medal victories.

* Serbia has the top free-throw percentage (77.7) of the four remaining medal-contending teams.

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