USA vs Australia Prediction & Betting Tips - Men's Olympic Tournament

Prediction published on 04/08/2021, 07:01  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 04/08/2021 at 09:48 in Basketball Predictions

The USA take on Australia in the semi-finals of the Olympic men's basketball tournament. The Americans are bidding to win the men's tournament for the fourth successive Olympics. They haven't had it all their own way though in Tokyo. The group stages saw them finish in second place after losing their first match against France 83-76. They rallied to win the next two group fixtures with victories over Iran and the Czech Republic by 79 points, though they did trail the Czechs early on. Lillard and Tatum were both in good form for the States in those wins. That took them into the last eight where the USA defeated Spain 95-81. The match was level at half-time but the American side forged ahead in the second half, Durant top scoring with 29 points.

Australia have never won a men's basketball medal at the Olympics. They have come agonizingly close however, finishing fourth in three of the last six Olympic Games. The Australians topped Group B with three wins over Italy, Germany and Nigeria. It was a tight win over Italy though with a three-point final margin and the Aussies only won one quarter. They took on Argentina in the last eight and had an easy 97-59 victory to take them into this semi-final. This is a much tougher task of course and the tip is to go for the USA on a -5 point spread.