The Los Angeles Clippers travel to Salt Lake City for only their second game away from Staples Center to take on the Utah Jazz tonight. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Clippers-Jazz prediction and pick.
The Clippers hold a record of 4-1, and they are also 4-1 against the spread. Their last game was a blowout victory against Portland.
The Jazz stand at 2-2, and they are 1-3 against the spread. They are coming off a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.
Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening odds for Clippers-Jazz.
NBA Odds: Clippers-Jazz Odds
Los Angeles Clippers -3 (-115)
Utah Jazz +3 (-105)
Over 220.5 Points (-110)
Under 220.5 Points (-110)
Why The Clippers Could Cover The Spread
With the exception of an absolute beat down at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, the Clippers have looked like one of the best teams in the NBA.
The Clips aren't just beating opponents. They're dominating them.
Taking out the Mavs game (which they played without Kawhi Leonard), the Clippers' average margin of victory is 16.5 points.
And it's not like Los Angeles has played a soft schedule. They handily beat the Lakers, Nuggets, and Trail Blazers, teams that analysts had in the top half of the Western Conference to start the season.
As much as Twitter loved to bash the Clips for the Dallas blow out, I believe it was more of an anomaly than anything.
So far, the only thing we've seen stop the Clippers is themselves. Barring injury to one of their top stars like Leonard or Paul George, this team is going to stick around with anybody.
Against a Jazz team that is mediocre at best at the moment, and on top of that playing the second leg of a back-to-back, this could get ugly in Utah in favor of the Clips.
The Jazz's strength lies in their defense. Unfortunately, they're running into a team whose defense is just as good as theirs.
The Clippers defense ranks five spots below the Jazz in points allowed, but their offense is levels above anything we've seen Utah put forth this season.
Barring a Clippers meltdown (which, to be fair, shouldn't be completely dismissed), the Clippers have a great shot at covering the small spread.
Why The Jazz Could Cover The Spread
The Jazz resumed their seesaw of a season on Thursday night by falling to the Suns on their home floor.
In four games, the Jazz have only really impressed in one of them, and that was opening night.
But against the Blazers, we saw flashes of what Utah could be: An extremely well-rounded team that relies on its defensive chops to shut down opponents.
Utah had seven double-digit scorers that night in Portland. They might need a repeat performance to keep it close with Los Angeles on Friday.
Almost the entire Jazz team has started the season slowly.
Donovan Mitchell's current season-high is 23 points. Bojan Bogdanovic is shooting 30% from the field. Joe Ingles is shooting the the same percentage from three-point range.
The one bright spot is Jordan Clarkson. One of the top candidates for Sixth Man Of The Year has kept the slow Jazz offense afloat so far, consistently giving Utah a punch off the bench.
If the Jazz have any hope of covering, they'll need to make this a slugfest. Slow down the pace, give the Clippers the fewest possessions possible, and Utah won't be shot out of the ball game.
Final Clippers-Jazz Prediction & Pick
After watching Thursday's Suns-Jazz game, I figured the Clippers would stroll in to Utah as eight or nine point favorites. Three points is a steal. I predict that the Clippers will cover easily, continuing the trend of demolishing Western Conference opponents when fully healthy.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: LAC 114, UTA 101
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