FIBA World Cup Betting Odds: Luka Doncic, Slovenia Big Quarterfinals Underdogs

Despite Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic being the best player in the FIBA World Cup, Slovenia is a heavy underdog according to pre-quarterfinals betting odds.

Dalton Trigg | Sep 5, 2023

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As the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals get underway on Tuesday, betting odds have been released for the final eight teams standing. Despite Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic being the best player in the tournament, though, Slovenia is a big underdog based on how bets are being placed.

According to BetOnline.ag, Doncic and Slovenia have +1400 odds to win the World Cup, good for sixth out of the final eight teams. Here are the full odds: USA (-135), Canada (+450), Germany (+750), Lithuania (+900), Serbia (+1000), Slovenia (+1400), Latvia (+5000), Italy (+6600).

Although Doncic is the best player remaining out of that entire group, it’s easy to see why many don’t see them pulling off an upset and winning the World Cup. Doncic is the only NBA-caliber player on Slovenia’s roster, whereas Team USA, Canada and Germany have a handful of them.

Luka Doncic, Slovenia, FIBA World Cup — FIBA

Slovenia was undefeated with wins over Venezuela, Georgia, Cape Verde and Australia before suffering a 29-point blowout loss to Germany on Sunday. In their quarterfinals matchup on Wednesday morning, Slovenia will take on Canada, a very talented squad led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, R.J. Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, Doncic’s Mavs teammate Dwight Powell and others.

Canada looked unbeatable in their first three World Cup games, as they defeated France, Lebanon and Latvia by an average margin of 37 points. However, they stumbled in a 69-65 loss to Brazil on Friday, then they almost got eliminated on Sunday before pulling out an 88-85 win over Spain.

So, although the odds might be stacked against Doncic and Slovenia, Canada, as well as every other remaining team in this World Cup and proven to have some weak spots. We’ll see if Doncic can keep his patented “Luka Magic” going for at least one more round.

Published Sep 5, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.