Iran vs France
July 30, 2021 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: France -26
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Iran and France meet Friday night in the 2020 Olympics in a basketball meeting at the Saitama Super Arena. Iran is now 0-2 in the Olympics after getting smoked by Team USA on Wednesday. France is 2-0 after wins over USA and Czech Republic.
Iran is looking for a positive at this point and currently riding a five-game losing streak. In the losing effort, Iran shot 37.3 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from three. Hamed Haddadi led Iran with 14 points and seven rebounds while Mohammad Jamshidi had 14 points and two rebounds. Navid Rezaeifar was the third double-digit scorer and Saeid Davarpanah grabbed two rebounds. Defensively, Iran allowed 55.3 percent shooting from the field and 48.7 percent shooting from three. Iran entered these games with little expectations given the lack of experience on the big stage. Just being here is an accomplishment for Iran. However, Iran would like to go out on a high note here with a major upset.
France was winless in exhibition play and and can run away with Group A with a win here. In the winning effort, France shot 55.9 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from three. Evan Fournier led France with 21 points and two rebounds while Nando De Colo had 17 points and one rebound. Vincent Poirier was the third double-digit scorer and Thomas Heurtel grabbed two rebounds. Defensively, France allowed 53.4 percent shooting from the field and 47.1 percent shooting from three. France has been a bit of a surprise given how sloppy it looked in friendly matches and now it has a chance to position itself nicely for the next round. France has been consistent defensively through two games and has gotten better in the later quarters. France has been decently impressive through two contests.
France won the only meeting against Iran, which came in the 2014 World Cup. The game was decided by five points.
France is head and shoulders the better team here, but there is potential for a letdown knowing it should win this game and after its past competition. Iran can only get better after playing the Americans and they’ve shown flashes of potential on offense. France is great defensively, but it does go through dry spots at times offensively. This is a lot of points to leave on the table.
I’ll take a shot with Iran and the free buckets.
