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Women's basketball gold medal game: USA vs. France odds, picks and predictions
By Kevin Erickson,
8 hours ago
Team USA and France meet in the 2024 Summer Olympics women’s basketball gold medal game at Accor Arena in Paris Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET (NBC / Peacock / Universo). Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines for USA vs. France, and make our expert Summer Olympic picks and predictions.
Team USA cruised by Australia 85-64 in a semifinal Friday two days after defeated Nigeria 88-74 in a quarterfinal. The Americans are 5-0, wining each game by 13 or more points, with the closest margin coming against Belgium (87-74) in group play.
It was a balanced effort against the Aussies Friday as Team USA shot 50.0% (34 of6 8) from the field, including 41.2% (7 of 17) from downtown. USA was especially good from the free-throw line, hitting 90.9% (10 of 11). USA also had a plus-12 rebounding margin, which more than made up for a minus-1 in turnover differential.
F Breanna Stewart went for a game-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with 6 rebounds 5 assists. G Jackie Young added 14 points and 5 assists, G Kahleah Copper finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, while C A’ja Wilson had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.
France needed overtime to dispatch pesky Belgium its 81-75 semifinal win. After spanking Canada and Nigeria by identical 75-54 scores in the first 2 group games, France lost to Australia 79-72, before powering past Germany 84-71 in the quarters.
Against Belgium, F Gabby Williams led the way with 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting, while she was an efficient 7 of 7 from the stripe. France had 4 players score in double digits, although it was an awful 29.9% (23 of 77) from the field, while going just 22.6% (7 of 31) behind the 3-point line. Against Team USA, that simply won’t cut it.
Moneyline (ML): USA -2500 (bet $2,500 to win $100) | France +1040 (bet $100 to win $1,040)
Against the spread (ATS): USA -15.5 (-118) | France +15.5 (-104)
Over/Under (O/U): 155.5 (O: -112 | U: -110)
USA vs. France picks and predictions
Prediction
USA 89, France 71
Team USA (-2500) is not going to be denied a gold medal. It has too strong of a squad. The French side (+1040) isn’t close to being as deep as the American side. Team USA could substitute all 5 players on the floor and it would still have a better lineup vs. France as the Americans features a cast of competitive WNBA stars and legends of the game.
PASS on a ML play.
Team USA -15.5 (-118) will be in hostile territory for the gold medal game as the home crowd will obviously be pro-France. But, it won’t matter. The crowd isn’t playing, and B-Stew, A’ja and company are just too talented — and too big — to not get the job done.
France barely escaped against Belgium and it lost to Australia. USA’s closest games have been by 13 and 14 points. It might be a close game for the 1st half, but look for the Americans to pull away in the 2nd half to win comfortably, perhaps by 20 or more points if the 3’s start falling.
The OVER 155.5 (-112) is a good bet. Team USA has scored 85 or more points in all 5 games in Paris. The Americans have been fairly consistent on defense, too, holding 2 opponents under 69 points and allowing 75 or more points just once it its 5 outings.
France has turned up the offense a little in the quarterfinals and semifinals, averaging 82.5 PPG, although the Belgium game did go to OT to bump that average up a little bit. France has allowed 71 or more points in the past 3 games, too, and that average is about to get a whole lot worse against the talented Americans.
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