NBA Betting Odds: Utah Jazz at New Jersey Nets

Added on Jan 18, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

Inter-conference matchup for Wednesday’s pro basketball betting card as the Utah Jazz travel to New Jersey to take on the improving Nets. Jazz are currently tied with Oklahoma City atop the Northwest Division while New Jersey is in the Atlantic Division basement. Despite that, they’ve shown significant improvement from last year and no longer have the worst record in their conference.

Utah Jazz at New Jersey Nets
January 19, 2011 4:05 PM Pacific

After a listless effort in a MLK Day loss at Washington we expect a strong bounceback effort from a Utah team that has only lost back-to-back games once since opening the season 0-2. New Jersey is a decent team at home now with a 7-10 SU/9-8 ATS record but with that improvement comes a downside–teams no longer view a game against the Nets as a ‘night off’. The Nets are better, but they still don’t have the firepower to compete with a deep and versatile Utah team. Jazz have destroyed Eastern Conference opponents this season going 14-3 SU/12-5 ATS. They also take care of business against losing teams, going 17-3 SU/12-8 ATS.

We respect the Nets’ gritty play when stepping up in class–they’re 14-8 ATS against opponents with winning records–but Utah has had little trouble with this team of late. Jazz won by 10 in Salt Lake City earlier this season and Utah has won and covered three straight in the series including both meetings last year. Nets on a bad run of late, losing 11 of 12 SU and going 4-8 ATS. With OKC facing a tough game at Denver on Wednesday night this will be an opportunity for the Jazz to pick up some ground in the divisional race and we expect them to make the best of the opportunity. We’ll lay the price in this game, with the Jazz currently listed as a -6′ point favorite at Bookmaker. Utah wins and covers here.

Bet Utah Jazz -6′ over New Jersey Nets