UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
The second day of FIBA World Cup 2023 brings us the first match by the USA team, who will go against New Zealand at the start of the tournament in which they will try to bring back the gold medal after finishing seventh in the last World Cup in China. This is our preview of the game, along with some of our favourite betting tips for this duel.
- Date & Time: Saturday, August 26, 2023, 1:40 p.m. GMT
- Venue: Mall of Asia Arena – Pasay, Philippines
USA vs New Zealand basketball predictions
Contents
While the only question ahead of this duel is by how much will the USA win the game, there are still some interesting betting markets to explore here. So, let’s take a closer look at our latest USA vs New Zealand basketball predictions:
Prediction 1: USA to win with handicap (-34.5) @ 8/13 (1.62)
As we already said, the only question is by how much the USA will win this match and we can see this game going ugly for New Zealand. While this USA roster is far from the Dream Teams of the past, it is a respectable team filled with young and hungry NBA stars, eager to bring the gold back to their country after the disappointing seventh place at the last World Cup.
So, taking into account the huge difference in quality between these two teams, we can see the Americans winning this match by 35 or more points, sending a strong message at the start of the tournament to anyone hoping to keep them off the throne again.
Prediction 2: Anthony Edwards over 19.5 total points @ 83/100 (1.83)
The young Timberwolves superstar comes into this World Cup after a fantastic season with Minnesota, where he averaged 24.6 points per game in the regular season and a whopping 31.6 points per game in the playoffs.
In the last warm up game for the USA ahead of the World Cup, Edwards dropped 34 points against a great German team. So, even if he doesn’t play his full allotted minutes in a blow-out win, we can still see the Ant getting to 20 points at least.
USA vs New Zealand preview – Can the Kiwis avoid a disaster?
Now let’s take a closer look at the latest USA vs New Zealand team news ahead of their meeting in Group C at FIBA World Cup:
USA news, injuries, and starting lineups
Some may say that this is the worst USA national team in recent history, but we beg to disagree. While there are no true NBA superstars present this time, like the likes of Steph Curry or LeBron James, the team is filled with young guns eager to prove themselves in the international stage.
Some of the biggest names on this team are Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Brandon Ingram, Tyrese Haliburton, and Paolo Banchero. Overall, this is a team full of growing players, players who are known for playing hard on defense in addition to those with outstanding offensive skills and the oldest among them are only 28 years of age – Bobby Portis and Josh Hart.
USA injury report:
- N/A
USA starting lineup:
Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr.
New Zealand news, injuries, and starting lineups
While New Zealand fans will certainly enjoy seeing their national team take the stage against the USA juggernaut regardless of the final score, this is probably one of the weakest rosters in recent history of New Zealand basketball. With Steven Adams injured and out, there are no NBA players in this New Zealand team. In fact, only one player even plays in Europe, with Yanni Wetzell turning up for Alba Berlin.
Wetzell is probably the best-known name on this roster, but another name might ring familiar to true basketball fans – Flynn Cameron. While Flynn is a relatively unknown young player, his father is Pero Cameron, one of the legends of New Zealand basketball, a player who lead the Kiwis to their best-ever result at 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis where New Zealand reached the semi-final.
New Zealand injury report:
- N/A
New Zealand starting lineup:
Shea Ili, Izayah Le’afa, Reuben Te Rangi, Finn Delany, Yanni Wetzell
USA vs New Zealand head-to-head matchups
These two teams only met twice in their history, with the USA winning both of these matches in a convincing manner.
Where to watch USA vs New Zealand on TV/live stream
If you live in the UK, you can watch all FIBA World Cup matches via FIBA’s streaming service Courtside 1891. Meanwhile, in the USA, the World Cup will be shown on ESPN2 and ESPN+. New Zealand fans can watch their team on TVNZ Duke and TVNZ +.
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
