Teams that were longshots to reach the finals of the 2019 FIBA World Cup — Argentina and Spain — have defied expectations and will play for the coveted tournament title on Sunday at Wukesong Sport Arena in Beijing. Both teams have rolled to the final without losing a game. On Friday Argentina cruised by France, 80-66, in the semifinals behind 28 points and 13 rebounds from former NBA veteran Luis Scola. The Argentines will be playing in their first World Cup final since 2002. In the other semifinal, Spain outlasted Australia, 95-88, in double overtime behind 33 points from Toronto Raptors center Marc Gasol. The Spaniards are in the tournament final for the first time since 2006. Tip-off is 7 a.m. ET. Spain is a 4-point favorite, and the over-under for total points scored is 154. Before you make any 2019 FIBA World Cup final picks, you need to see the predictions from SportsLine pro basketball expert Gene Menez .
A former reporter for Sports Illustrated, where he covered an array of games for almost 14 years, Menez has obsessively followed the NBA for almost four decades. He has tracked the 2019 FIBA World Cup, broken down the final and made his pick. He’s sharing it only at SportsLine.
Menez has factored in that Spain is arguably the more talented team. The squad features four players on NBA rosters — Gasol, Ricky Rubio and brothers Juan and Willy Hernangomez. Rubio is averaging 15.9 points and 6.4 assists in 26.8 minutes in the tournament. Argentina doesn’t have even one player currently on an NBA roster.
Menez also knows that Spain has played the best defense of the tournament so far. The Spaniards have allowed 69.2 points per game in China, and that’s counting the two overtimes against Australia.
Even so, Spain is no guarantee to win or even cover the Spain vs. Argentina spread.
Menez knows that Scola arguably has been the MVP of the tournament. The 39-year-old forward still has the crafty offensive moves that allowed him to play 10 years in the NBA. He has averaged 19.3 points and 8.1 rebounds a game in China.
But he’s not the only reason why Argentina is rolling up 87.6 points per game in the World Cup. The team has gotten flashy play from its guards, including Facundo Campazzo, who is averaging 13.6 points and 7.7 assists in 28.9 minutes. As a team, Argentina is shooting 36.8 percent on 3-pointers, much better than the Spaniards’ 31.9 percent.
We can tell you that Menez is leaning under, but he’s found a critical x-factor that makes one side of the spread hit hard on Sunday. He’s sharing what it is, and which side to back, only at SportsLine.
So who wins Argentina vs. Spain on Sunday? And which critical x-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Argentina vs. Spain spread to jump on, all from the former Sports Illustrated reporter.
