NBA Betting Odds: Utah Jazz at Oklahoma City Thunder

Added on Mar 23, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

Western Conference matchup on Wednesday between the surging Oklahoma City Thunder and the slumping Utah Jazz. Thunder are up to 4th place in the West and have an outside shot of running down third place Dallas. The Jazz are in the toilet–they’ve lost 12 of their last 17 and are playing horrendous defense.

Utah Jazz at Oklahoma City Thunder
March 23, 2011 5:05 PM Pacific

Hard to believe that the Jazz have slipped to the point where they’re double digit road dogs against anyone. Jazz thumped OKC on Halloween night as +7 dogs to begin their strong run in the first half of the season, but that’s ancient history at this point. Thunder have had no trouble with the Jazz in two games since, including a 16 point win in Salt Lake City in early February. Thunder enter this game in solid form, winning 9 of their last 11 SU going 8-3 ATS but are coming off an upset loss to Toronto in their last outing. Jazz covered three of their last four games but their SU wins during the past month or so have come against Indiana, Sacramento, Toronto, Minnesota and Philadelphia. Even more problematic is the fact that Utah has only covered twice in a losing effort since Jerry Sloan’s untimely departure. Overall they’re 6-11 ATS in their last 17 games.

Jazz have been horrible this year in revenge spots for a home loss going 2-9 SU/4-7 ATS and have failed to show up against winning teams during the second half of the season. Overall, Utah is 12-20 ATS against opponents with winning records with a 3-10 ATS mark in the second half of the season. The Thunder loss to the Raptors in their last game only makes this situation worse for the Jazz–OKC is 11-1 SU/8-4 ATS off an upset loss as a favorite. In theory, we’d sure like to be able to make a case for taking the Jazz as double digit road underdogs against a team that doesn’t play particularly good team defense. At this point, however, the Jazz haven’t demonstrated that they can compete against the NBA’s elite on a consistent basis. We’ll take the Thunder minus the points and look for a rout.

Bet Oklahoma City Thunder -10 over Utah Jazz