2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup: Lithuania vs. Australia Live Streaming, Betting Odds and Key Players
Lithuania wants to protect their perfect record while Australia wants to get another win to avoid complications in getting to the next round. The Lithuanians and Australia face each other Tuesday night in Group D action of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Lithuania has defeated Angola, 75-62 and Mexico, 87-74 for a pair of easy wins to shoot them atop the group standings at 2-0 tied with Slovenia. Australia fell to the Slovenians, 80-70 in their first game but bounced back with an 89-55 shellacking of South Korea for a 1-1 win-loss record at this point of the tournament.
The Tuesday match-up is more important for the Boomers, which are trying to hold off the likes of Mexico (0-2) and Angola (1-1) in the group standings. A loss will bring them to 1-2 and possibly out of the top four depending on what happens on the Mexico vs. Slovenia game also on Tuesday.
Only the top four from each group will advance to the next round. Slovenia and Lithuania are virtually shoo-ins to get to the knockout stages while Mexico, Angola, Australia and South Korea will battle the last two spots.
Lithuania and Australia have met seven times in official FIBA tournaments with the Lithuanians holding the series edge, 5-2. All games have resulted in blowouts for the victor except for a Lithuania win way back in 1996.
Lithuania vs. Australia Head-to-Head History:
Australia def. Lithuania, 106-75 (Aug. 18, 2008)
Lithuania def. Australia, 78-57 (Aug. 23, 2006)
Lithuania def. Australia, 100-85 (Aug. 23, 2004)
Lithuania def. Australia, 89-71 (Oct. 1, 2000)
Australia def. Lithuania, 71-61 (Aug. 2, 1998)
Lithuania def. Australia, 80-74 (Aug. 3, 1996)
Lithuania def. Australia, 98-87 (Aug. 2, 1992)
Two NBA players lead their respective teams both in scoring and rebounding. Aron Baynes of the San Antonio Spurs averages 17.0 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Aussies while Jonas Valanciunas of the Toronto Raptors average an equally impressive 14.0 markers and 9.0 caroms for the Lithuanians.
Both squads have been shooting the lights out thus far in the tourney with the Australians hitting a 51.9% of their shots from behind the arc and Lithuania pounding the paint at 61.2% field goal shooting inside.
Lithuania vs. Australia Betting Odds:
To Win Game: Australia (2.54) vs. Lithuania (1.48)
Against the Spread: Australia (+4.5) vs. Lithuania (-4.5)
Over/Under (Total Score): 154.5 points
Watch 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup: Lithuania vs. Australia live streaming via these links: ESPN and LiveBasketball.TV.