NBA Betting Picks: Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz

Added on Feb 16, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

Sportsbooks offering plenty of action on both basketball and hockey tonight and we’ll look at an attractive NBA betting position as the Utah Jazz look for the first win of the post Jerry Sloan era at home against the Golden State Warriors. The Jazz are now 0-2 SU since the shocking and sudden retirement of Sloan and assistant Phil Johnson, though the team did look better against Phoenix last night in a 1 point road loss.

Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz
February 16, 2011 6:05 PM Pacific

We generally like new Utah Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin and in the ‘big picture’ we think he’ll do well. Nothing could have prepared him for the task he’s now faced with–trying to rebuild some stability on a team that has had only one other head coach in the past 23 years. Before the events of the past week, Corbin had no reason whatsoever to think he’d be the Jazz’s head coach anytime soon. Jerry Sloan had been the head coach for nearly a quarter of a century and just signed a one year extension. If some unexpected scenario caused Sloan to retire, longtime assistant Phil Johnson would take over the job. Now they’re both gone and it’s Corbin’s team.

Not that things were going particularly well before Sloan left–the Jazz got the cover at Phoenix last night but that was only their 6th in the past 16 games. Corbin is well liked and a former player himself, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Jazz players rally and play hard for him down the stretch. In the final game before the All Star break, however, we don’t see it happening. The Warriors have already won two of three against Utah this season and from a pointspread standpoint they’ve been a tough foe for the Jazz in recent years. Since 2008, Golden State and Utah have split 10 games against the spread including a 2-2 split in Salt Lake City. The Jazz may get the outright win but they’ll be in a fight throughout.

Play Golden State Warriors +6 over Utah Jazz