NBA Betting: Sacramento Kings at Utah Jazz

Added on Nov 22, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

NBA betting on Monday features a Western Conference matchup between the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City. We’ve talked about the Kings quite a bit this year due to their struggles against the pointspread. Sacto enters this game at 4-7 SU/3-8 ATS and off a competitive loss/cover to New Orleans at home on Sunday. Utah was expected to be competitive but has started especially strong thanks to a 6-2 SU road record with impressive wins over Miami, Orlando, Oklahoma City, Atlanta and most recently Portland.

Sacramento Kings at Utah Jazz
November 22, 2010 6:05 PM Pacific

It wasn’t too long ago that the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz had one of the most underrated rivalries in the NBA. The teams were very competitive off the court, and all of the ‘intangibles’ were also conducive to intense competition. Both teams are from what are usually considered ‘small markets’–Sacramento is the #25 largest US metro area, Salt Lake City #48. Both were owned by self made businessmen and their personalities and how they made their money couldn’t have been different. Sacramento’s Maloof family made their money through beer distribution and casinos and are best known for owning The Palms in Las Vegas. The Jazz’s Larry H. Miller was a devout Mormon who avoided scheduling Sunday home games and made his money in the car business. Amid these glaring differences were some similarities that gave the rivalry an element of a ‘family feud’–Sacramento has one of the largest Mormon populations in the country outside of Utah.

The teams’ fortunes couldn’t be more different now–the Jazz are one of the best managed franchises in the league and enjoy great local support. The basketball fans of Sacramento are still passionate, but that hasn’t helped the Kings’ efforts to get public backing for a new arena. The Maloof family has never ranked among the wealthiest of NBA owners and have been hit hard by the downturn in the casino industry. The biggest problem for the Kings has been on the court where they haven’t done a particularly good job of rebuilding following their run of success in the early 2000′s. Utah, on the other hand, did a remarkable job of rebuilding following the Stockton/Malone era despite a few miscues along the way.

Sacramento hasn’t helped their case among the community with their uninspired play this season, though they have managed to cover two straight home games beating New Jersey and being competitive against New Orleans. We’re still not sold on the Kings but it could be a case where the lines have caught up with their level of play and the value in going against them has been lost. Not surprisingly, they’ve struggled against the Jazz SU in recent years losing 5 of the last 7 meetings including 3 of 4 in Salt Lake City. They’ve been competitive, however, going 4-3 ATS overall and 3-1 ATS on Utah’s home court.

We’re not going to advocate anything crazy like a play on the Kings but we will look to play this game Under the total. Series has trended Under (4 of 7 overall, 3 of 4 in SLC) and the Kings have gone Under in 6 of their last 7. Sacramento has one of the lowest FG %s in the NBA and Utah has one of the best FG % defenses. Even if Utah’s defensive intensity is lacking off a tough game against Portland and with New Orleans on deck, its doubtful that the poor shooting Kings can take advantage. Kings are also #27 in the league in free throw percentage so even if they get to the foul line there’s no guarantee they can convert. Play this game early as we see the total going lower but still plenty of value as we look for a final score in the mid 180′s.

Bet Utah Jazz/Sacramento Kings Under 197