Canada vs Australia Prediction & Picks – Olympic Men’s Basketball Group A

Three days ago, Canada opened the Olympic men’s basketball tournament in the best possible way by holding off Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. Today, they will look to move to 2-0 in Group A as they take on Australia, who is also looking to move to 2-0 following their own impressive win.

Canada and Greece entered the tournament with the best odds to win Group A, so Saturday’s showdown was an important one for both teams. Giannis did Giannis things and put up 34 points, but Canada never trailed, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came up cluch with a big basket in the final minute as Canada came away with an 86-79 victory.

That was an impressive victory, and so was Australia’s 92-80 triumph over Spain in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament opener. Unlike Canada, Australia didn’t go the entire way without trailing against Spain. However, the Boomers trailed only once, and that deficit lasted for fewer than 20 seconds.

The winner of this matchup will have the inside track to top spot in Group A. That is important because the two best group winners will be drawn against one of the two third-place teams that advances to the knockout stage. Canada is attempting to win an Olympic basketball medal for just the second time ever, and their hopes to do so could be boosted significantly by a favorable draw. That is especially because one of those two third-place teams will likely be from their group, and in the quarterfinals, teams cannot be drawn against someone from their group.

Therefore, the stakes are high for this matchup. Who will claim the win? Read on for a deeper look at the matchup, as well as a Canada vs Australia prediction and betting picks.

Canada vs Australia Odds

Spread

• Canada -6 (-115)
• Australia +6 (-105)

Over/Under

• Over 178.5 (-110)
• Under 178.5 (-110)

Moneyline

• Canada -270
• Australia +230

See more Canada vs Australia odds at BetOnline. Check out our BetOnline sportsbook review, then bag a bonus to bet on this blockbuster Olympic women’s basketball tournament matchup.

Canada vs Australia Betting Analysis

Against Spain, the only thing that Australia didn’t do well was minimize turnovers, as they committed 16 of them to Spain’s 13.

Other than that, the Boomers couldn’t have been much better. They shot 50.7% overall from the field, made 12 of 24 from three, had a +13 advantage on the boards, and held Spain to 32.4% shooting from three and 39.1% from the field overall.

Conjuring up another such all-around performance against Canada projects to be a much more difficult task. That said, Canada also needs to shoot better, or they could be in trouble.

Defensively, they can feel rather good about their efforts. Giannis (11 of 17 FG) and Kostas Papanikolaou (5 of 8 FG, 17 points) combined for 51 points, but the rest of Greece’s team scored just 28 points and made just 7 of 34 shots (20.6%) from the field, going 6 of 25 (24%) from three and 1 of 9 (11.1%) on two-point attempts.

But Australia has many more offensive weapons than Greece, and that was on display against Spain, as five Boomers hit double figures, led by Jock Landale’s 20.

So, Canada will need to do better than the 43.1% they shot from the field and the 32% they shot from three against Greece. Will we see more of Jamal Murray against Australia than we did Saturday? Murray played 18 minutes against Greece, scoring eight points (2 of 6 FG, 0 of 3 3PT, 4 of 4 FT) and dishing out three assists.

Canada vs Australia Prediction & Picks

Entering the Olympics, Australia had the third-best group winner odds behind Canada and Greece, and they had just the seventh-best men’s basketball gold medal odds, even after defeating Serbia and France in warm-up games.

Following their win over Spain, they have moved from +4000 to +2200 to win gold and from +550 to +200 to win Group A.

Today’s contest will be a good barometer for just how much of a contender the Boomers are, as Canada is considered the USA’s chief competition for gold.

They certainly aren’t to be taken lightly, so Canada must put in a full 40 minutes. Canada obviously has a lot of NBA talent, but so does Australia, and they aren’t going to be deer in the headlights here.

That said, I think we’ll see a much cleaner offensive performance by Canada, who was 9 of 16 from the field and 3 of 6 from three in the first quarter against Greece but shot only 38.1% (16 of 42) from the field and 26.3% (5 of 19) from three the rest of the way.

If they don’t have that kind of drop-off in this contest, they should be able to see off Australia and cover the spread while doing so. Along the way, look for a high-scoring first half and for SGA to lead the way after being held to 21 points against Greece.

Canada vs Australia Prediction: Canada to win

Canada vs Australia Picks: 1) Canada -6, 2) Canada/Australia first half over 90 (-105 at BetOnline), 3) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over 23.5 points (-115 at Bovada)

Other Olympic Men’s Basketball Betting Information

Where to Bet on the Serbia vs USA & the Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament

With the likes of LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Victor Wembanyama taking part, the Olympic men’s basketball tournament will garner a lot of betting interest from far and wide. Therefore, bettors will not be lacking in options for where to bet on Olympic men’s basketball tournament odds.

The odds in this piece come from BetOnline, which has a wealth of betting markets for this event and other Paris 2024 events.

Including BetOnline, below are some of the sites that we recommend for betting on the Olympics.

Best Betting Sites for the Olympics

Are you unfamiliar with any of the sites listed? Check out our reviews for each site to learn more about them. Our reviews cover available betting options, deposit and payout options, mobile betting, and bonuses and loyalty/VIP programs.

Other Olympics Content by Betting News

The 2024 Summer Olympics are ongoing in Paris, and we are covering a number of key events like the Olympic men’s basketball tournament. Did you enjoy this Canada vs Australia basketball betting breakdown? Here’s some of our other Olympic content to check out:

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