Pick: Jazz -10.5
Odds: -110
$100 Could Win You…$190
The highlight at basketball betting websites tonight is an inter-conference showdown between the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz at the Vivint Arena in Utah. These two teams have been parked near the top of their respective conferences all season long. Utah has been nearly unbeatable at home this season, which puts pressure on the short-handed Nets.
Moneyline Betting Odds for Nets at Jazz
| Team |
|
|---|---|
| Utah Jazz | -550 |
| Brooklyn Nets | +430 |
Nets vs Jazz Spread Betting Odds
| Team |
|
|---|---|
| Utah Jazz | -10.5 -110 |
| Brooklyn Nets | +10.5 -110 |
Over/Under Betting Odds for Brooklyn vs Utah
| Team |
|
|---|---|
| Utah Jazz | O 230 -110 |
| Brooklyn Nets | U 230 -110 |
While Utah seemed like a playoff team in the West heading into the season, nobody expected them to do what they’ve been doing this year. They’ve been the West’s leader for most of the year, and they’re currently perched with the league’s best record at 31-11 and are two games in front of Phoenix for top seed. On top of that, they’ve won 16 of 18 contests at home.
Brooklyn floundered early in the year, going just 5-6 early on as the hot shooting of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving couldn’t make up for their lack of team defense. But the trade for James Harden in the middle of January proved to be the catalyst. Even with Durant sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Nets have been rolling, going 25-8 since the poor start.
Injury Report
The pairing of Harden, Irving and Durant has been largely hypothetical to this point for Brooklyn. They’ve had only a handful of games together, with Durant going down with a hamstring injury in the middle of February. Since then, Harden and Irving have been largely a duo act, but tonight, Harden will once again be a one-man band as Irving misses for personal reasons.
On top of that, Brooklyn will be without the latest of its superstar acquisitions, as Blake Griffin sits out the second game of the back-to-back for load management. Brooklyn may again be without Landry Shamet, who missed last night’s win over Portland with an ankle injury. In his absence, Tyler Johnson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot should get more playing time off the bench.
When teams have great seasons, they can often point to being clear from injuries as one of the reasons. Such is the case with Utah, who have had their core pretty much intact with the exception of a game or two missed by Joe Ingles and Mike Conley with nagging injuries here and there. For tonight’s matchup, Utah will have its full contingent of weapons.
The Harden Way
Lest you think that they are somehow a different team without two of their big three, the Nets are actually 3-2 when only Harden is in the lineup out of the trio. Included among the three wins were an incredible road comeback victory over Phoenix and a nice win over Portland last night, also on the road. The two losses were to Philly and Dallas, no slouches.
While the focus is on the Big 3, Nets GM Sean Marks has done an outstanding job filling in with effective role players. Last night, they beat a good Portland team with Harden shooting just 7 of 24 from the field, although he did have 17 assists. Other stepped up with excellent efforts:
- Jeff Green: 20 points
- Joe Harris: 17 points
- Nic Claxton: 16 points, 9 rebounds
The Nets’ four bench players combined to give them a plus 14 in their time on the floor. Against Utah, they’ll need to role players to be particularly sharp. After all, Utah Coach Quin Snyder will be trying to shut Harden down and make others beat them.
Joes Battle
We know how much the Jazz are built around three-pointers, as they lead the league in threes made per game and are third in percentage. But the Nets are no slouch either, sitting fifth in threes made per gams and second in percentage, actually just ahead of Utah. And the guys most responsible are Joe Ingles of the Jazz and Joe Harris of Brooklyn, as the 3-pt percentage stats make clear:
- Tony Snell, Atlanta: .568
- Joe Ingles, Utah: .500
- Joe Harris, Brooklyn: .487
These two take advantage of the attention being paid to others on their respective teams to sneak into crevices in the defense for open looks. Both are deadly in catch-and-shoot situations. It also helps that they’re surrounded by excellent passers who find them in stride.
Most people will focus on the stars of this contest when sizing it up, and that’s understandable. But whoever wins the battle between these two could have a great impact on the outcome. They’ll certainly be letting it fly early and often.
New Man In The Middle
We mentioned Nic Claxton above, and the second-year center hit the ground running this year after an injury held him out the first couple months. He’s been excellent rim-running, as expected, but he has made an even bigger impact on the defensive end with his shot-blocking and ability to defend smaller players on switches, an area where DeAndre Jordan struggles:
Most assumed that the Nets would bring in a center once Jarrett Allen was traded in the Harden deal, with Andre Drummond the guy mentioned most often. That still might happen. But Claxton still might figure even when that occurs, especially with the way he’s been playing.
Tonight will be a tough test for the Nets big guys. Last night, they were beaten up by Enes Kanter to the tune of 19 points and 19 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive. Next up: Rudy Gobert, who is fifth in the league in the offensive rebounding category.
What’s the Best Bet?
An extremely different Nets team clobbered the Jazz back on January 6 by 34 points in Brooklyn. Harden hadn’t yet been acquired, and Kyrie Irving was in the lineup that night, along with since-departed Caris Levert, Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince. Still, Utah likely remembers that and will want atone for their worst defeat of the year.
The Nets might be a shade leg-weary after playing a close contest last night in Portland. If you don’t have your legs against Utah, their ball movement will lead to threes all night long. Throw in the fact that the Nets are a little bit undermanned and that Gobert should be able to throw his muscle around and this looks like a comfortable win for Utah at home, where they just don’t lose very often.
Jim Beviglia
Jim Beviglia joined Gamblingsites.org as a staff writer in 2018, parlaying his years of freelance writing into contributions on a number of different topics. He handles the sport of horse racing for GamblingSites.org and the intersection between the worlds of cryptocurrency and online gambling in a weekly blog.
For his full-time job, Jim handles the television and track announcing duties at a h …
