Team France will face Team Slovenia in the men’s basketball semifinals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Thursday night.
The winner of this matchup will advance to the Gold Medal Game on Saturday, while the other team will have a chance to play for a medal in Saturday’s Bronze Medal Game. Both teams were undefeated in the preliminary rounds before winning their clashes in the quarterfinal round. Slovenia overtook Germany to advance, while France escaped with a narrow victory over Italy to get one step closer to the podium.
Can Team France overtake Luka Doncic and Team Slovenia in the men’s basketball semifinals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Thursday night?
France must overtake Doncic to reach the men’s basketball final
Team France defeated Italy 84-75 in the quarterfinals thanks to a resilient effort from their top stars. Rudy Gobert finished with a total of 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Evan Fournier added 21 points and scored three 3-pointers in the victory. Nicolas Batum added 15 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a complete effort. France overcame a sloppy offensive effort by limiting Italy to just 32.4 percent shooting from the field and 7 of 33 (21.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Evan Fournier leads all scorers with 28 PTS to lead France to an 83-76 win over USA ????????
First Olympic loss for Team USA since 2004 against Argentina ????pic.twitter.com/MibB4QSPn4
– Side views (@SideIineViews) July 25, 2021
Led by Gobert, the France team has a total of five NBA players on the Olympic roster. The Stifle Tower is joined by Fournier, Batum, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Frank Ntilikina. Fournier leads the team in scoring 18.3 points per game on 47 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line. The France team has also received significant contributions from guard Nando de Colón and point guard Tomas Huertel, who scored 10 points and five assists from the bench in the quarterfinal round victory over Italy.
Rudy Gobert finishes France’s victory in the quarterfinals against Italy with a pirouette ????
Everything I imagine that goes through his head as “et oup là” does
The delicacy????
Next @ luka7doncicSlovenia. #Basketball # Tokio2020 #FROM #franciateam pic.twitter.com/dePBwaOq8i
– Chloe Merrell (@chloe_merrell) August 3, 2021
If the France team wants to advance to the Men’s Basketball Finals in Tokyo, they will have to fix things on the offensive side. They spun the ball more than 20 times against Italy in the quarterfinal round and shot just 7 of 22 from 3-point range in victory.
France will also have to find a way to defend the 3-pointer, as Slovenia has attempted the most 3-pointers per game (38.8) during the Olympics. The defense of the team has been one of the main reasons why France is with an unbeaten record heading into the semi-finals. With Gobert at the center of defense, France leads the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in defensive field goal percentage (38.7 percent) and is second in 3-point defense at 31.0 percent.
Can Doncic propel Slovenia to the gold medal game?
Slovenia advanced to the men’s basketball semifinals with a 94-70 win over Germany on Tuesday. Zoran Dragic led Slovenia in scoring with 27 points on 11-for-13 shooting, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range. Doncic finished with 20 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for Slovenia, which shot 15 of 35 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc as a team.
Zoran Dragic ???????????? pic.twitter.com/u7cHKEmpy5
– Trio (@ trio80) August 3, 2021
No country has found an answer for Doncic, who tops the Olympic leaderboards in various statistical categories. The Dallas Mavericks superstar leads the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in points per game with 26.3 and fouls generated (33) in four contests. Doncic also ranks second at the 2020 Olympics in rebounds per game (10.0), assists per game (8.0) and blocked shots per game (1.3).
As a team, Slovenia leads the 2020 Olympics 3-point and free-throw attempts per game. Led by Doncic, five different Slovenian players are averaging double-digit figures heading into the men’s basketball semifinals. Dragic is the second on the team to score 16.0 points per game, while Klemen Prepelic and Vlatko Cancar are averaging 14.5 points each.
Luka Doncic with a very casual pass without looking over his head to set up a Mike Tobey three. Slovenia advances to the medal rounds. pic.twitter.com/NkjfVHgrs6
– USSportsbonus (@ussportsbonus) August 3, 2021
Thanks in part to Doncic’s play, Slovenia’s offense has stolen the headlines during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, Slovenia has also been robust on the defensive side of the court. Despite playing at a fast pace, he ranks second in opponents’ field goal percentage (40.7 percent) and third in 3-point defense at 31.3 percent, just behind France. in both categories.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics men’s basketball betting
Bovada – Best NBA Betting Site
The Slovenian team reaches the men’s basketball semifinals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games favored by a scant -2.5 points over France. Bettors have set the total for this game at 174.5 points. Sportsbook Bovada has placed Slovenia as the favorite at -150 odds, while moneyline bettors can get a little more value out of France at +125 odds.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Men’s Basketball Betting Trends
Trends can be valuable information for bettors looking to improve their basketball. betting strategy.
Below is a short list of trends for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games men’s basketball semifinals.
Slovenia
- 4-0 in their last 4 Olympics
- 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Olympics
France
Tokyo 2020 Olympics Men’s Basketball Betting Predictions
Below you can find some betting predictions for the men’s basketball semifinals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
2020 Olympics Men’s Basketball Spread Prediction:
Believe it or not, Doncic has never lost a match while representing his country on the international stage. He led Slovenia to a gold medal at the EuroBasket tournament in 2017 with a perfect 9-0 record and participates in this contest with an undefeated 4-0 record at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. France stunned the world with a victory over Team USA in the preliminary round and won all four of their games in Tokyo, but Gobert’s inability to wander outside of the paint could hurt them in this showdown. By surrounding Doncic with a group of outside shooters and large enough to activate the defense, Slovenia is built to give France some trouble in this game. Take Slovenia to cover the difference in the men’s basketball semifinals at the 2020 Olympics on Thursday night.
2020 Olympics Men’s Basketball Money Line Prediction:
It’s hard to bet against Doncic, who has firmly established himself as one of the best players in the world at this point in the tournament. Unlike most of his NBA counterparts, Doncic has been completely comfortable on the international stage and ranks near the top of the rankings in almost every major statistical category. The Slovenian star is also not afraid to share the rock and has shown enough confidence in his teammates to make great shots down the stretch. Slovenia is big enough to make life more difficult for France’s offense, which is coming off its most sloppy play of the tournament in the quarter-finals against Italy. France turned the ball more than 20 times in that game and shot just 31.8 percent from three-point range. Similar performance simply won’t be enough for Doncic and company here. Take Slovenia to win on the money line and advance to the Gold Medal Game.
2020 Olympic Games Men’s Basketball Total Prediction:
As good as Slovenia has been on offense, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this Semifinal Round battle turn into a low-scoring affair. Both teams have done a good job of cracking down on defense and each of them turned things up a bit during their quarter-final round victories. Not only does the French team have arguably the best defensive player in the world in Gobert, they have also done a good job closing down outside shooters during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. France ranks first in field goal percentage from opponents and second in defense of 3 points when entering this game. Meanwhile, Slovenia is not far behind defensively, ranking second and third, respectively, in those two categories. Take advantage of this showdown to stay below your projected total on Thursday night.
2020 Olympic Games Men’s Basketball Player Accessories Prediction:
Slovenia reaches the semi-finals attempting the most triples per game as a team. With Gobert placed in the middle of the paint for Team France, it would not be a surprise to see Slovenia relying even more on the 3-ball on Thursday. After making 5 of his 7 3-point attempts in the quarterfinal round win over Germany, bettors have placed Zoran Dragic to a modest -1.5 3-pointers made on Thursday. Dragic has been on fire from long range during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He has knocked down an overwhelming 50 percent of his three-point shots before Thursday’s contest. Since all eyes are expected to be on Doncic for this game, Dragic is expected to quietly continue his aim from beyond the arc in this game. Take Dragic to make at least two 3-pointers in the Men’s Basketball Semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Thursday night.
Free bets available at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Top betting promo codes for 2021
