A spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games basketball semifinals is up for grabs when Australia and Argentina meet on Tuesday night.
The Boomers are unbeaten in the round robin and they look good to medal, but Argentina has always been tough to beat at the Olympics.
Bookmakers have Australia as favourites to win the game, but with Aron Baynes suffering a slip in the bathroom, it’s up to the Boomers to recover and fight through adversity.
We look at which team has the best chance of winning and every exotic bet worth snapping up.
All odds are with Sportsbet – our No. 1 rated bookmaker. You can join Sportsbet by clicking HERE.
Men’s Basketball Australia vs Argentina Predictions
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Australia vs Argentina Game Prediction
There is little doubting the class of the Australians and they one of the favourites to win either gold, silver or bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The Boomers kicked off their campaign with an 84-67 win over Nigeria before beating Italy in a close contest by three points. It was closer than expected, but the loss of Baynes was a shock and it was a good job to overcome the injury.
They showed their class by beating Germany 89-76 to progress to the finals unbeaten, which is a much better record than Argentina, who scraped through with a 1-2 record.
The Argentinians lost their opening game 118-100 to Luka Doncic and Slovenia. It wasn’t an easy game given the way NBA superstar Luka Doncic played, but there were no excuses for the poor loss to Spain.
We’re not discrediting the Spanish, but scoring only 71 points was a dour effort. However, Argentina hit back with a 97-77 win over host nation Japan, and that should give them confidence against Australia.
Not going in favour of the underdogs is their recent record against Australia. The Boomers have won the last three games, dating back to 2013. Australia won the most recent meeting 87-84 in an exhibition game last month, so the win will still be fresh in their minds.
Having players like Paddy Mills and Joe Ingles is huge. Both are top-level NBA players and they have taken this Boomers side to a new level. Add the likes of Chris Goulding and Jock Landale, and you have a formidable unit.
Bookmakers have Australia as the $1.25 favourites to win the game. Argentina isn’t getting much respect at $4.20, and they’re currently the +8.5 underdogs.
Our pick is Australia to win and cover the spread. They will want to make a statement heading into the harder games and there is no player on the Argentina squad that could pose a challenge to the NBA talent of the Boomers.
We recommend taking the line before it moves closer to game time.
Bet: Australia –8.5 @ $1.90 – Bet @ Sportsbet
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Australia vs Argentina Exotic Bets
There are plenty of exotic betting markets for the men’s basketball quarterfinal and we have handpicked the best value for punters.
Paddy Mills to score over 21.5 points is a good value bet. Mills has the ability to knock down 5+ three pointers and we think he will get open shots throughout the game. Punters get $1.77 for the Over, so expect the line to move.
We also expect Melbourne United star Jock Landale to have a big scoring game. He can shoot outside and in the paint, so he’s a dual threat. Bookmakers have a generous line of 13.5 points, so we’re not surprised to see his odds shorten throughout the week.
There isn’t much value in head-to-head markets, but we expect Australia to come out humming. The halftime-fulltime double pays $1.46, which is worth including in Olympic Games multi bets.
All odds are with Sportsbet – our No. 1 rated bookmaker. You can join Sportsbet by clicking HERE.
