Australia’s Boomers men’s basketball team will attempt to win the first Olympic medal in their history on Saturday night when they face Slovenia for the bronze.
The Patty Mills-led team was well beaten by the United States in their semi-final while Slovenia were edged by one point against France and angry at calls they believed went against them in the final stages of that match.
It was a familiar story for the Boomers who missed out on a medal in Rio 2016 when they were beaten 89-88 to Spain in the bronze medal game after aa harsh call against Mills gave the Spanish two free throws to win the match.
The Boomers have placed finished fourth at the Games on four occasions, while Slovenia are in the Olympics men’s basketball tournament for the first time. France and the United States will play for the gold medal at 12.30pm AEST Saturday, with the Boomers v Slovenia playoff at 9pm AEST.
Slovenia are led by 22-year-old NBA star Luka Doncic, who has been brilliant so far. Doncic suffered a wrist injury in the semi-final and turned provider with 18 assists against France, having already racked up a 48-point game aghainst Argentina.
The Boomers will look to their aggressive defence, where Matisse Thybulle has excelled, to shut him down.
What time are the Boomers playing Slovenia today?
Boomers vs Slovenia at 9pm AEST, which is 8pm local time in Tokyo. If you’re tuning in from the Western side of Australia, the Boomers will get underway at 7pm AWST.
How to watch the Australian Boomers vs USA?
Channel 7 and 7plus have exclusive rights to the Tokyo Olympics and are the only places you can watch the Games legally.
Given it’s a bronze medal match, Channel 7 will likely show Boomers vs Slovenia on their main free-to-air channel, which is channel 70 in metro areas.
However, the Olympics broadcaster hasn’t been afraid to toggle between events while the Australians are still on the court. Hence, if you can’t find it there, make sure to check 7mate, that’s channel 73 in metro areas.
If you’d like to have more control, you can live stream the Boomers’ encounter on 7plus for free online. 7plus offer an app for Mac and Android devices, available through the relevant app store. Though, you can also access the Olympic streaming service directly through your internet browser.
Channel 7’s commentators John Casey, Andrew Gaze and Andrew Bogut will call the match.
Game information
Tip off: 9:00pm (AEST)
Venue: Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo
TV: Channel Seven
Online: 7plus
Teams
Boomers
Patty Mills (c), Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Chris Goulding, Josh Green, Nic Kay, Jock Landale, Joe Ingles, Duop Reath, Nathan Sobey, Matisse Thybulle
Slovenia
Zoran Dragić, Aleksej Nikolić, Luka Rupnik, Vlatko Cančar, Gregor Hrovat, Jakob Čebašek, Mike Tobey, Jaka Blažič, Klemen Prepelič, Edo Murić, Žiga Dimec, Luka Dončić
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