Canada vs. Greece Olympics men's basketball best bet July 27: Back the Canadians to cover spread in opening game

Canada opens its Olympics competition with a game against Greece.

The pregame narrative: Canada has the second shortest odds to win gold and opens as a 7.5-point favourite over Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. I'm backing the Canadians to cover the spread as my best bet.

Check out our Canada vs. Greece best bet for the July 27 game.

Canada vs. Greece best bet

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Best Bet: Canada -7.5 (-110)

Last year, fans got a glimpse of what Canada can do at the international level when the team won bronze at the 2023 FIBA tournament.

The Canadians were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He has since finished second in MVP voting and is undoubtedly a top player in the NBA.

Canada's never had that before — a superstar player who can take over the game. And now it has one of the best.

But so does Greece with Giannis. The former MVP has already proved he's an all-time great and is a dangerous threat to any defence.

So considering both sides have an MVP calibre player, I'll look at the depth for each nation and I like what I see with Canada.

Along with SGA are NBA Champion Jamal Murray (who was absent from FIBA last year), Toronto Raptors starter RJ Barrett and defensive pest Dillon Brooks. That's a few of the serviceable players on the roster.

Greece doesn't have that plethora of NBA talent and I think Canada will dominate the minutes that Giannis is on the bench.

Head coach Jordi Fernandez can also build a scheme around defending Giannis, forcing other players to beat his team.

Greece won't be afforded that luxury as the role players aren't of the same quality as Canada's. I expect that to be the deterring factor.

Key stat: Canada covered this spread in both of its pre-tournament wins, including a 12-point win over France.