Australia gives Team USA a scare in pre-Paris Olympics tune-up match

Australia faced off against Olympics basketball betting favourites the United States in a pre-tournament exhibition in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The Boomers nearly upset the reigning world champions. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, and Australia lost 98-92 to Team USA.  

Boomers dominate the paint 

Team USA’s failure at the FIBA World Cup in the Philippines Japan, and Indonesia last year largely came down to their poor interior defence.  
 
The Americans had no true centre on their roster at that tournament. They are bringing more height and inside talent to the Olympics, but their problems with locking down the paint still seem to be there.  
 
The Boomers scored an astonishing 68 points in the paint on Monday. That would be a lot in a 48-minute NBA match. In a 40-minute FIBA game, giving up that many points is almost unheard of, especially for Team USA.  
 
If they are going to live up to their betting sites favourite tag, the Americans will have to shore up their interior defence.  

Boomers prove they belong 

Australia’s “Golden Generation” of basketball stars is coming to an end. Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, and Matthew Dellavedova are all in their mid-30s now. Others, like Aron Baynes and Andrew Bogut have long-retired.  
 
Because of this, basketball fans and the Australian betting apps don’t have many expectations for this Boomers side at Paris 2024. Most top sportsbooks have Australia as sixth most likely to win, at best. This result against the US, however, shows that the Boomers are a team big countries should fear.  
 
Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey and Rockets’ centre Jock Landale led the way against Team USA with 17 and 20 points, respectively.  
 
For the Yanks, Anthony Davis dominated. The Lakers star put up 17 points and collected 14 rebounds, which was nine more than the next best American.  

Paris Olympics basketball betting odds 

As you’d expect, the sportsbooks have Team USA as huge favourites to win the Olympics basketball tournament. PlayUp gives the Americans $1.15 odds to win.  
 
The US’s neighbours to the north, Canada, have the next best odds at $11.00. Nikola Jokić’s Serbia ($15.00),  Victor Wembanyama’s France ($15.00), and Dennis Schröder’s Germany ($19.00) round out the top five.  
 
Australia are way down the Olympics basketball betting odds list with $31.00 odds to win the tournament.

The Boomers will get their chance to prove the bookies wrong on July 27th against Spain at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France. Their next match is at the same venue on the 30th against Canada. They will cap off the Group Stage against Greece on August 2.