France vs USA Preview & Prediction | Paris 2024 Olympics | Men’s Basketball | Gold Medal Match
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The 2024 ‘Dream Team’ are set to play for Olympic gold, but for LeBron James, Steph Curry and USA to claim the ultimate prize in Paris, they’ll have to get through Victor Wembanyama and a deafening home crowd as France aim to fulfil what they feel is their destiny.
START DATE/TIME: Saturday 10th August, 2024, UK – 8:30pm / US ET – 3:30pm / US PT – 12:30pm
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ON TV: UK – BBC is the main broadcaster while some event will be televised on Eurosport / US – NBC is the main broadcaster while some events will be shown on NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website & Eurosport Player / US – Events can be streamed on the relevant streaming platforms of NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
FRANCE VS USA PREDICTION
The amount of subplots that surround this Men’s Basketball 5x5 gold medal match is truly mouthwatering. Whether it be USA’s Joel Embiid facing the nation he could’ve ended up playing for, or France’s Rudy Gobert hoping to redeem himself after being benched in the host nation’s famous win over Germany, which guarantees their men’s basketball squad a first Olympic medal since 1996.
Whilst Victor Wembanyama might not have hit the number of three-point-shots he would’ve wanted in the semi-finals, Steph Curry was sinking them for fun as he racked up 36 points across a semi-final which saw USA stage a memorable fourth-quarter rally to come from behind and beat Nikola Jokic’s Serbia. The 7 ft 4 in ‘Wemby’ will need to be at his defensive best to shut down the most formidable offence at the Olympics.
Then you have LeBron. His basketball legacy is already cemented as a 4x NBA Champion, MVP and Finals MVP, but the two-time Olympic gold medalist has shown across this tournament why he is one of the greatest sporting leaders, guiding USA’s plethora of superstars and always coming up with clutch plays when his team needs him most. If the USA does win gold here, another MVP award is surely headed his way.
On paper, USA are rightly huge favourites. Motivation is at an all time high, head coach Steve Kerr knows how to win when it matters most. Their three-point-shooters are so clinical under the most intense of pressure and even a defence as strong as France will struggle to contain them across four quarters.
France will give everything and it will be a rough ride for the USA. The crowd will play their part as well and as much as Embiid will relish the boos, keeping a calm head will be essential. However, even if Wembanyama improves his offensive numbers, USA are just too strong, too free-scoring and should end up gold medalists yet again.
FRANCE VS USA TIP: USA TO WIN WITH -12.0 POINT SPREAD
