Basketball Olympic Finals: France vs. USA Betting Preview, Odds, Prediction

France and the USA meet in the finals of the Olympic basketball tournament. It is crazy to see that these two rivals will close the Games the way they opened it, by playing with one another. France had more success in the opening clash, beating the Americans. But that contest is forgotten now, and it pretty much doesn’t mean anything. A victory in this one is what counts now. Team USA is a massive favorite, and them failing to win the gold medal would be one of the biggest surprises in the past few Olympic tournaments, regardless of the sport.

Preview

France (+700) defeated Slovenia in the semis 90-89, and that was only because of Nicola Batum’s fantastic block in the last second of the game. The Clippers guard rejected Klemen Prepelic’s layup attempts, protecting the minimal lead his team had.

This was yet another fantastic defensive performance of Vincent Colet’s boys, who limited the one most efficient team of the tournament to just 89 points, which was their lowest production in Tokyo. Now that needs to be respected, especially the way they handled Luka Doncic, who made only five of his 18 FG attempts.

A very physical and tough backcourt filled with several NBA players is creating problems for anyone, and we’ve seen that throughout the entire tournament. On the other side, Evan Fournier controls the attack with 19.2 points, with massive help coming from Nando De Colo, who scores 13.8 buckets.

USA (-800) needed just one quarter to secure the finals. Even though Durant and the boys trailed 15 points, they would end up on the winning side solely because of a fantastic third period. During those 10 minutes, the US team outscored the rivals, 32-10, completely breaking their morale and will eventually closing out the contest without any problems.

The Americans are playing in waves, and they need five minutes of the game to catch the rhythm and demolish the opponent. Their offensive potential is enormous, and even though a vast majority of the fans believe that their athleticism provides the edge on the defensive side of the ball, the situation is quite the opposite. Their attacking tempo is what provides triumphs for them.

Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum are the two best scorers in Gregg Popovich’s crew- KD scores 19 points, and Tatum 14.4.

Head to Head Games

The match in the group stage closed with France winning 83-76. Prior to that one, these two teams met at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and France eliminated the US team in the quarterfinals, 89-79.

Americans hold wins over France in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Prediction

Both sides are coming to this match at full speed, with all of their players 100% ready, which is superb, because it guarantees a spectacle.

The US team is a favorite, and the spread on them is -11.5 points. In our opinion, they will break the French side early on, avoiding the scenarios from the previous few matches where rivals had double-digit leads in the first half. This is the gold medal match, and we are more than sure that the American machine is going to demonstrate its full power. That is why betting on their win with the spread covered is the best possible pick here.

Pick: USA -11.5