The Utah Jazz will face the Los Angeles Clippers in a battle of two playoff squads. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Jazz-Clippers prediction and pick.
The Jazz have plenty to play for in this contest. Utah is currently holding on to the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but the Denver Nuggets are hot on their heels. The Jazz are barely clinging on to a half-game lead, so every single game they play is crucial if they want to avoid falling any further in the standings. The Clippers don't have nearly as much at stake here. Los Angeles has pretty much secured the eighth seed in the conference, but they would still love to play a little bit of spoiler in this one. Expect both teams to leave it on the floor in a game that carries a lot of meaning.
Here are the Jazz-Clippers odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Jazz-Clippers Odds
Utah Jazz: -1.5 (-110)
Los Angeles Clippers: +1.5 (-110)
Over: 217.5 (-110)
Under: 217.5 (-110)
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Why The Jazz Could Cover The Spread
Utah's offense has a chance to recover from some rough outings in this one. The Jazz have been sorely missing forward Bojan Bogdanovic, but the last time they played the Clippers they did just fine without him. Utah dropped a whopping 121 points on the Clippers without Bogdanovic or star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell will be healthy in this contest, making it even more likely that Utah can put together a good showing here. These teams have faced each other one other time, and the Jazz put up 124 points in that contest. It's clear that Utah likes this matchup on offense.
This is a tiny spread for Utah. The cold streak that they've been on should make it much easier to cover in this matchup. Even without Bogdanovic, head coach Quinn Snyder's team deserves more respect than that. They were favored by five the last time they played the Clippers and they covered easily. The Jazz also just covered a seven point spread against the Chicago Bulls, a far better team than the Clippers.
Why The Clippers Could Cover The Spread
Momentum is a proven factor in basketball, and the Jazz are playing with none of it. Utah has lost their last four games, including a bad loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The Boston Celtics also blew them out by an insane 28 points. In all four of those losses, the Jazz failed to score more than 106 points in a game. Now they run into a Clippers defense that has been one of the better units in the league. Even with the history between these teams, it's hard to see how the Jazz can turn their offense around so rapidly.
Utah is dealing with a couple of crucial injuries, including the aforementioned calf injury to Bogdanovic. Star center and defensive stalwart Rudy Gobert is questionable for this game, and Bogdanovic's backup, Danuel House Jr., has already been ruled out. Both of Gobert's backups at center are also likely to miss this game. That means there's a chance Utah is forced to start Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Trent Forrest, Royce O'Neale, and either Eric Paschall or Juancho Hernangomez. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Final Jazz-Clippers Prediction & Pick
This is a tough pick, but the Clippers should find a way to cover. They're playing on their home court, and the Jazz are dealing with what feels like endless injuries. Take Los Angeles here.
Final Jazz-Clippers Prediction & Pick: Los Angeles Clippers: +1.5 (-110)
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