The United States and Italy face off in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup on Tuesday, and it's brewing to be an interesting affair considering what both teams have gone through to reach this point. With that said, as we continue our FIBA World Cup odds series, we make our Italy-United States prediction and pick. We also provide all the details on how to watch the showdown between the two powerhouse teams.

Team USA will be hungry to bounce back after losing the last game of the second round to Lithuania. It was quite the shocking result considering how dominant the Americans were in the first-round group stage that saw them go 3-0. Sure it wasn't the most perfect run, but they still ended up with a 103 differential and an average winning margin of 34 points per game.

With that said, that loss to Lithuania should serve as a wake-up call to the United States. They may have the best talents in the world, but they are not invincible. There's a way to beat them, and Lithuania just showed everyone that formula to take down the giants and the FIBA World Cup favorites.

Meanwhile, Italy heads to the quarterfinal after topping Group I in the second round. The Italians have been unbeaten after losing their first game of the tournament to the Dominican Republic, and it looks like they are peaking at the right time. They edged Serbia in a grueling affair earlier in the second round, which seemed to have boosted their morale as they absolutely destroyed Puerto Rico (73-57) the following game.

Simply put, Italy enters the showdown with all the confidence they need. They are well aware of the situation they are in, and that could be dangerous to a USA team hoping to return to the top after losing the 2019 iteration of the event.

Both sides have no room for error in the quarterfinals. Unlike the previous two rounds that are in group format, it's do or die from here on out. That should make for an even more intense affair in a Saturday morning.

Here are the 2023 FIBA World Cup odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

2023 FIBA World Cup Odds: Italy-United States Odds

Italy:+16.5 (-122)

United States: -16.5 (-104)

Over: 177.5 (-115)

Under: 177.5 (-111)

How to Watch Italy vs. United States

TV: ESPN 2

Stream: fuboTV

Time: September 5 8:40 a.m. ET/ 5:40 a.m. PT

*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Italy Will Cover The Spread

Italy isn't as dominant as a rebounding team like Lithuania. However, that doesn't mean they cannot control the glass. So far in the competition, Gli Azzurri rank fifth for rebounds per game at 39.2, above the United States–albeit by just a small margin since the US is averaging 39.0 boards.

The Americans are actually getting more defensive rebounds, though it's on the offensive rebounds where Italy is better. The Italians are averaging 11.4 offensive boards compared to USA's 9.8.

That is a good recipe for success since Lithuania was able to beat Team USA by dominating the boards and taking advantage of second chance points. If Italy can use the same formula and execute, the USA will surely be in trouble.

Of course Italy can't and shouldn't expect things to be that easy. Team USA coach Steve Kerr knows they got exposed and will likely have some plans to counter the same strategy that Lithuania used against them.

With that said, Simone Fontecchio–Italy's lone NBA player on the roster–will need to do more heavy lifting on the offensive end to make sure Italy stays in the game when things gets tough. The Utah Jazz forward is averaging 18.4 points per game in the competition.

One other saving grace for Italy is their 3-point shooting. While they are only making 31.4 percent of their shots from deep so far in the competition, it should be noted that they can get hot from long distance. Just take a look at their game against Serbia for example, during which Italy made 11 of 21 shots from 3-point land to edge their European rivals 78-76.

Why United States Will Cover The Spread

Before tackling what the United States can do to win, it's important to take note the biggest weaknesses of the squad. Based on how they performed so far, two key issues arise: slow start and rebounding.

Since the start of the tournament, Team USA has largely struggled getting to a hot start. In their close win against Montenegro and loss to Lithuania in the second round, their offense was out of sorts in the opening quarter. As mentioned earlier as well, their rebounding continues to be a problem, though that can be attributed to the construction of the roster that puts more emphasis on spacing and small ball.

Anthony Edwards and co. need to understand that they need to resolve those two issues to win. They have the talent to do so, but they just seem to be lacking in aggressiveness to really execute it.  If they don't want to go home early, they must take advantage of the overwhelming talent gap they have against Italy.

The rest of the bench will really need to step up as well. Against an Italian side that doesn't really boast that much NBA-level talent, Team USA's second unit could feast. And they should make the most of it.

Final Italy-United States Prediction & Pick

Team USA is just too talented to lose this game, and after that embarrassing defeat against Lithuania, they should be raring to make a statement.

However, it's wrong to count Italy out (or any team for that matter) at this stage of the FIBA World Cup. With that being said, we might have another close encounter like the USA's previous two games.

Final Italy-United States Prediction & Pick: +16.5 (-122)