Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz: NBA Odds & Picks
Written March 24, 2009 by Anthony Moretti
Once Tracy McGrady went down with a season-ending knee injury, everyone just assumed the Rockets season was over. Not is Houston’s season far from over, they’ve actually improved their potential playoff seed without McGrady in the lineup (16-4 in the 20 games T-Mac has missed). If the regular season ended today the Rockets would have the #2 seed in the West behind only the L.A. Lakers. They are currently trying to stay ahead of the San Antonio Spurs, who sit just a half game back in the Southwest. Tonight the Rockets head to hostile territory where they will square off against the 43-26 Utah Jazz, who hold the second-best home record in the Western Conference. If the Jazz could play their entire season in Utah, they might have the best record in the NBA, they’ve been less than spectacular on the road this year winning just 14 of their 34 games as the visitor, but great play at home has kept them in the potential playoff mix. A quick look at the NBA odds for today show the Jazz -5.5 against the Rockets with the total set at 193 points.
Houston Rockets: Losing Tracy McGrady should have been a devastating blow to Houston, but it hasn’t turned out to be. I think this says a lot about how the Rockets have built their team. McGrady was just the 3rd highest scorer on the team behind Yao Ming and Ron Artest, and the Rockets have found other options to score the ball in T-Mac’s absence. Luis Scola has been particularly valuable to the team, putting up almost 13 points and 9 rebounds per game. The Rockets are one game over .500 on the road this season (18-17), but they’ve lost 3 straight at Utah. The good news for Houston backers tonight is that the road team in this match up is 9-4 against the spread in the last 13 meetings between the two. Another interesting note for those of you that bet on the NBA is that 7 of the last 9 Houston Rockets’ games have gone under the total.
Utah Jazz: As I mentioned earlier, the Jazz are one of the best home teams in the NBA, and they’ve also been one of the most profitable. They are 29-6 at home on the season and 20-15 against the spread in those games. The Jazz score 105 points per game on their home court, while allowing just under 95 points per game on defense. Now you can start to see why they have so much success in Utah. Much like the Rockets, the Jazz don’t count on their offensive output from just one player. They have 5 players averaging 14 points or more and their leading scorer, Deron Williams, comes in at 18.8 points per game. It looks like the Jazz have had a good run of late against the spread versus good teams. They’ve won 4 of their last 5 home games both straight up and against the spread against teams with a winning record. Utah also has a trend that leans toward the under with 7 of their last 9 games coming in under the number when they are favored.
I think the Rockets can keep this game close and even with some heavy trends toward the under, the total should come in near the number or slightly over. Jazz come away with yet another home win, but Houston is the play against the spread and the over is the play on the total.
Predicted Score: Utah Jazz 102, Houston Rockets 98
Play on: Houston Rockets +5.5, Jazz/Rockets OVER 193
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2 Responses to “Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz: NBA Odds & Picks”
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Who is number 26 for the utah jazz?
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Kyle Korver
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