Basketball: France vs Germany Odds, Picks & Predictions

On Thursday, August 8, the men's basketball semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics will begin. Now undefeated at 4-0, Germany will face France, currently 3-1, hoping to win their second match in as many days. The match at Paris's Accor Arena is set to begin at 11:30 am ET.

In Tuesday's quarterfinal, France stunned Canada, 82–73, but the undefeated Germans are small favorites going into Thursday's semifinal match.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

While neither France nor Germany is given much chance in the gold-medal chances due to Team USA's dominance, the odds for Germany (7.00) are still much lower than for France (11.00). Before the start of their quarterfinal match against Brazil, Team USA was already a 1.20 favorite.

Germany rallied from a 21-11 first-quarter deficit in the quarterfinals to defeat Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece, thanks to improved play from Franz Wagner and Dennis Schroder. Schroder did not commit a single turnover despite his 13 points and game-high eight assists. Daniel Theis grabbed eight rebounds, and Wagner scored 18 in just 25 minutes played.

Guerschon Yabusele scored 22 points, and the improbable 20 points from Virtus Bologna's Isaia Cordinier helped France cruise to an 82–73 victory after a dominant first-quarter performance (26-13) helped them dethrone Canada. The advantage was 45–29 at halftime. Even though France's top scorer, Victor Wembenyama, only managed seven points, his team still prevailed.

Canada came within five points in the last quarter but couldn't get any closer. 

When Germany and France met in the group stage, Germany won 85–71. After the first quarter, Germany held a six-point advantage; by halftime, that lead had grown to twenty-one. Center Theis grabbed eight boards and forced Wembanya to struggle for his fourteen points (5-of-11 shooting), while Schroder and Wagner matched for the game-high with twenty-six points each.

Germany had a +7 lead in rebounding (36-29), including an 11-9 advantage in offensive rebounds, even though Wemby pulled down 12 boards.

Our Predictions

Germany -2.5 @ 1.90 on Sky247.ng

So far in the competition, Germany is the only side capable of posing a challenge to the United States. With the help of Schroder and Franz Wagner, the Germans have dominated every team they've played so far. Their resounding victory against France in the previous match was a perfect storm. Despite being much smaller in the post, they fired 45.2% from outside the arc and prevailed in the fight for the rebound.

In Thursday's rematch against Germany, we anticipate a far more robust performance from the French, who were electrifying in playing in front of their home crowd against Canada. Still, as a 2.5-point favorite, Germany is severely underrated.

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