After an extremely disappointing start to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Australia’s Opals will look to bounce back when they take on Canada in a crucial Group B encounter on Thursday night (AEST). Both clubs are coming off poor defeats and it’s likely that the loser of this clash will be packing their bags. We bring you our game preview and best bet below!
2024 Paris Olympic Games – Women’s Basketball
Australia vs Canada (Wednesday 9:30pm AEST)
Australia’s Opals went into the Paris Olympics as one of the favourites to secure a minor medal due to their #3 world ranking coupled with their strong performances at major tournaments.
First up in Group B they were tasked with taking on the #12 ranked Nigeria whom they started as 25.5 point favourites against; however, their performance against the African champs left A LOT to be desired as they were embarrassed by 13 points (62-75).
Turnovers absolutely plagued the Opals throughout and they ended the game with a whopping 26 of them. Missed free throws were also a tough watch for Aussies as they finished 8/18 from the stripe.
Elsewhere in Group B, Canada were poor in their opening game in Paris as they were defeated by the hosts, France, by 21 points (54-75). The #5 ranked Canadians were the clear underdogs in that matchup despite being the higher rank (France #7).
Canada couldn’t buy a bucket at stages and finished the game shooting a dismal 32% from the field (17/53). Amazingly, they scored only two points in the entire second quarter where they went 1/13 from the field… something you rarely ever see at this level of competition.
Perhaps the poor performance from the Canadians wasn’t a surprise considering their form in the lead up. In three of their four lead up games they scored 48, 51, and 48 points, while in the other they notched up 77 in a win against the Opals (77-74).
Match Prediction: This is a tough game to get a read on considering how bad both nations were in their opening game. The Opals are currently priced as the clear favourites but as mentioned above, Canada were victorious in their most recent encounter.
Regardless, taking the unders in the total points market is the play here. The Canadians offence has been non-existent in recent games and the Aussies also severely struggled to execute on offence against Nigeria.
Under 140.5 Points
$1.87 (1 Unit)
