United States vs. Japan Olympic Women’s Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 8/7/21

The United States and Japan face off on Saturday in a women’s basketball showdown in the gold medal game. These are two teams who haven’t faced off yet in the Olympics. 

Coming into the Olympics there were some concerns about this United States team, but they have stepped up to the plate and found a whole lot of success in the Olympics. The offense and the defense has been strong, including the last game against Serbia, they won 79-59. Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner have been the two top players in the Olympics and in the last game they combined for 27 points. Both players have finished with double-doubles. Chelsea Gray also had a big game on the bench finishing with 14 points while hitting both of her three-pointers. In this game for the USA it’s all going to be about the offense running up the score early and trying to make this game a shootout. 

On the other side of this matchup is Japan who looked impressive against France in the semifinals winning 87-71. Japan was down by eight at the end of the first quarter, but then the offense really got going, and that led to Japan victory with ease. Himawari Akaho had a big game for Japan finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds. Each of the starters for Japan had at least eight points, and in this game, it’s going to be important that Japan finds the offensive success. More importantly, though is that the defense is good for Japan, and really shuts down early. 

The United States is the better team and they are going to have no issue getting the job done early in this game. Look for Japan’s defense to struggle, and the United States will cover the spread.