PREMIUM
Stephen Nover's NBA Game of the Week - 21-9 NBA Games of Week/Month/Year Plays
(NBA) LA Clippers vs. Utah,
Point Spread: -2.50 | -110.00 Utah (Home)
Result: Loss
Point Spread: -2.50 | -110.00 Utah (Home)
Result: Loss
The Jazz have played 81 games this season. Not once have they lost three in a row.
A combination of talent, home-court and coaching will carry the Jazz through this Game 5 and ensure they won't drop three consecutive games for the first time this season.
Utah's defense and bench is far stronger than it showed during the Clippers' 118-104 Game 4 victory in LA two days earlier. The Jazz beat the Clippers in the first two games of the series, both in Utah, and outscored the Clippers by 10 points in the second half of Monday's loss. Utah shot 51.4 percent from the floor in the second half, while holding the Clippers to 42.9 percent shooting from the field during the second half.
That bode wells for the Jazz turning things around. So does returning home. Utah is 4-0 SU and ATS in its last four games in Salt Lake City. The Clippers are 1-4 ATS as a road 'dog.
It's an added plus for Utah if Mike Conley can finally play.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are superstars. But Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell are near that level. Gobert is the best defensive big man in basketball. I also like Utah's reserves more than the Clippers. The Clippers are in trouble if both Leonard and George aren't playing their "A" games.
I also give the Jazz a solid coaching advantage with Quin Snyder against Ty Lue.
A combination of talent, home-court and coaching will carry the Jazz through this Game 5 and ensure they won't drop three consecutive games for the first time this season.
Utah's defense and bench is far stronger than it showed during the Clippers' 118-104 Game 4 victory in LA two days earlier. The Jazz beat the Clippers in the first two games of the series, both in Utah, and outscored the Clippers by 10 points in the second half of Monday's loss. Utah shot 51.4 percent from the floor in the second half, while holding the Clippers to 42.9 percent shooting from the field during the second half.
That bode wells for the Jazz turning things around. So does returning home. Utah is 4-0 SU and ATS in its last four games in Salt Lake City. The Clippers are 1-4 ATS as a road 'dog.
It's an added plus for Utah if Mike Conley can finally play.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are superstars. But Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell are near that level. Gobert is the best defensive big man in basketball. I also like Utah's reserves more than the Clippers. The Clippers are in trouble if both Leonard and George aren't playing their "A" games.
I also give the Jazz a solid coaching advantage with Quin Snyder against Ty Lue.
