The Boomers are in action in Paris again on Friday night in what is their final group game before they’ll hopefully take part in the knockout stages. Their opponent in their third Group A fixture is Greece who are led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. We bring you our preview and best bet for the game below!
2024 Paris Olympic Games – Men’s Basketball
Australia vs Greece (Friday 9:30pm AEST)
Match Scenario: The equation for the Boomers is a tad complicated, with a couple of different scenarios in play. Firstly, a win against Greece will lock in a top two spot and secure qualification to the knockout stage. The other automatic qualification scenario is they lose by 1-9 points against Greece and Canada defeat Spain. However, if they lose by 10+ points they’ll need some luck to qualify as one of the top two third-ranked teams.
Based on their solid form through two outings, the Boomers will be confident they can avoid the latter two scenarios and qualify with a win on Friday. The Boomers kicked their Paris campaign off with a fantastic win against Spain and looked on their way to making it 2/2 when they led Canada by four points in Game 2. However, the star-studded Canadians found a gear the Boomers don’t have in the third quarter and were able to pile on the score, eventually defeating Australia by 10 points (83-93).
There were a couple of concerns to come out of the loss against Canada. Patty Mills couldn’t buy a basket and finished the game with 8 points on 2-10 shooting, and a lot of his shots were forced and heavily contested. Nick Kay’s spot at power forward also should be up for grabs after his lacklustre display. Jack McVeigh is the obvious replacement there after two solid performances off the bench, or even Duop Reath could slide into the 4-spot if the Boomers want more size to help contain Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Meanwhile, the writing is on the wall for Greece who have underwhelmed with two losses from as many games in Paris. They began with a seven-point loss against Canada (79-86) before going down to Spain in a see-sawing affair second up (77-84).
Greece have typically been strong in major tournaments but look to be a bit of a one-man-band in Paris. Giannis Antetokounmpo has more than held up his end of the bargain with an average of 30.5 points through two outings, but it drops off after him with Papanikolaou the next best averaging 13.5 points.
Game Prediction: The Boomers will start as the clear favourites in this contest and that’s probably fair enough considering the promise they’ve shown. However, they’re currently shooting the three at over 41% as a team and that’s not something I can see holding up long term, so perhaps there’s a chance for Greece to get them on an off-shooting day.
Regardless, it’s the unders in the total points market which tickles my fancy again here. Both nations have plenty of size and length which will make it tough to finish at the rim. And I also expect both teams to be playing with a high intensity on the defensive end considering the importance of the result. With that said, the current line of 168.5 seems too high and I’m happy to be on the unders.
Under 168.5 Points
$1.90 (1.5 Units)
