Home teams have gone a moneymaking 6-1 SU and ATS at online sportsbooks through seven played second round games. The Utah Jazz represents one of the teams after going 1-0 SU and ATS in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series against the Los Angeles Clippers. Looking to follow in the footsteps of both the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, the top seed in the West will be looking to get out to a 2-0 series lead on its home floor with Donovan Mitchell and company looking to build off the impressive comeback win and cover (dependent upon where you bought in) that allowed for them to snag the series lead. In doing so, Utah moved to 4-1 SU and 3-1-1 ATS in the five overall meetings with the Clippers this season. All but two of the matchups were dominated by the defenses with the under 3-1-1 heading into Game 2 in SLC. Even so, linemakers held their ground opening the total a half-point lower with the Jazz holding firm as 3-point favorites. Game 1 just managed to stick below the closing total with both teams having average shooting nights. Now that the teams worked up a lather and got a feel for one another, I’m expecting Game 2 to open up a bit more offensively.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series between the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz will tip-off on Thursday, June 10, 2021 from the Vivint Arena. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN at 10 p.m. ET. We'll have NBA Playoff odds and player props available at BookMaker.eu for this and every game going on tonight’s NBA playoff slate.
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Odds Analysis
Utah hit the board as 3.5-point favorites with the total lined at 221 for Game 1. Before tip-off, the betting markets forced the side to -2.5 and total to 221.5, respectively. Utah would go on to barely cover and the combined score would just go under by the hook as well. Linemakers know what they’re doing, eh? Game 2 currently finds the Jazz favored by 3-points and the total locked in at 221; nominal vig is attached to both sides with 64 percent of the tickets and nearly 80 percent of the money riding the homebased Jazz. As for the total, those booking the bets have been hard-pressed to see much of any under money filter in regardless of both meetings in SLC combining to go under by an average of 7.0 points per game. Regardless, I agree with the sentiment and fully expect both offenses to rule the night.
Los Angeles Clippers
When it comes to betting on the Clippers, NBA bettors always know Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will bring their “A” games to the hardwood. That’s exactly what occurred in Game 1 with the former going for 23 and seven and the latter logging the double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Unfortunately, they also know that someone else will need to rise to the occasion for the team to come out victorious. That however didn’t occur in Game 1. Save for Luke Kennard contributing 18 points which included a 4 of 6 showing from beyond the arc, the next highest scorer was Ivan Zubac with 11 points. That’s simply not going to cut it against a potent Jazz offense over the course of this series. Reggie Jackson was that guy the previous round. He was MIA on Tuesday night in his 17 minutes of court time.
Utah Jazz
Mitchell has been nothing if not spectacular for the Jazz throughout the playoffs; as well as the regular season. The diminutive shooting guard has averaged 31.8 points, 5.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds after ripping LA for 45 points on 16 of 30 shooting in the series opener. The Clippers simply had no answer for him as he went on to rip their upper echelon 3-point defense to the tune of a 40 percent success rate splashing down six times. Rudy Gobert didn’t do much in the scoring column (10 points) but his 12 overall rebounds paired with Royce O’Neale’s 11 allowed for the Jazz to win the battle of the boards 46-42. Utah’s 12 offensive caroms also allowed for numerous second chance scoring opportunities that ultimately allowed them to pull out the comeback win.
Los Angeles vs. Utah Prediction
It took a Herculean effort from Mitchell and some outstanding defense in the second half to allow for the Jazz to hold serve and get out to the 1-0 series lead. The Clippers seemingly had their way with the Jazz in the first half outscoring them 25-18 in the first quarter and 35-29 in the second to take a 13 point lead into the break. That in and of itself was something to appreciate with LA just wrapping up a seven-game series against the Dallas Mavericks two days prior. The Jazz got to rest up for a handful of days leading up to Game 1. While I lean LA’s direction in Game 1, I’m not sure I want to fade the playoffs trend of every home team winning and covering just about every game. I will however invest in a high scorer playing out. LA rates out as the most lethal 3-point shooting team in the game, but it just didn’t have it in the series opener. Though Utah ranks No. 2 overall defending the perimeter, I fully expect the up and down nature of this rematch to allow for a number of uncontested shots. Look for more of them to go down this time around and for points to dent the scoreboard all night long.
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