NBA Spreads: Utah Jazz at Boston Celtics
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Boston Celtics will look to end their six-game homestand with a fifth straight victory when they host the Utah Jazz Friday night. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 ET at the Garden.
Taking a look at the NBA spreads for this game, oddsmakers have the Celtics favored by 5.5-points over the Jazz with the total set at 194.5. Check out if any of our experts put a play out on this game in our NBA free picks section.
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Utah has got off to an awful start to their five game road trip, as they lost at Washington on Monday 108-101 and then followed that up with a 103-95 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. Those two teams have a combined 23 wins on the season. Utah is 12-8 on the road this season, but they are really going to have to step up their game if they plan on taking down the Celtics on their home court.
Al Jefferson and Deron Williams are doing there part to try and help this team get a win on the road, but they aren’t getting a whole lot of help right now. Jefferson had 25 points and 10 rebounds against the Wizards and then came back and scored 21 against the Nets. Williams had 28 and 11 assists against Washington, and then 20 and 10 against the New Jersey.
Andrei Kirilenko had 17 points and eight boards against the Nets, and C.J. Miles added 13 off the bench, but Utah didn’t look good at all on defense, allowing the Nets to shoot 49.3% from the field and 50% from the three-point line.
Utah plays with that kind of energy against the Celtics, and this game will be over by halftime. Boston however needed a big fourth quarter to come back and beat the Pistons 86-82 in their last game. Boston has just one win by more than five points during their four game winning streak, and that came against the Sacramento Kings.
The Celtics have been working Kevin Garnett back into the lineup, and so far so good for the elite power forward. Garnett had 19 points in his first game back against the Magic, but managed just 11 points on 5-14 shooting against the Pistons. Look for Garnett to bounce back with a big game tonight, as he really seems to thrive on the big games.
Boston won against the Detroit despite two off nights from two of their top players. Ray Allen had just seven points and Rajon Rondo had just six points and eight assists. Paul Pierce picked up the slack with 22 points and Shaquille O’Neal came away with 12 points and 12 rebounds in just 25 minutes of work.
Boston has been nearly unbeatable at home this season, going 20-3, but they have struggled to pull away from teams lately. This is a difficult game to predict, but in the end I think you have to take your chances on the Celtics winning by six against a Jazz team that hasn’t played well on the road lately.
For more help with who to take, check out our NBA picks for tonight from our top NBA handicappers.
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