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The Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz square off on Wednesday night at the latter’s Vivint Smart Home Arena in a showdown between playoff contenders. The Jazz and Clippers rank next to each other in the Western Conference standings and both teams enter this game looking to solidify their playoff position.
Still In Playoff Position
The Los Angeles Clippers are one of the surprises this season. When the season started, they were supposed to be in a rebuild after the end of Lob City. But the young team managed to be among the Top 5 teams early in the season. When the Clippers traded leading scorer Tobias Harris at the trade deadline, they were supposed to fade away. But with 20 games left to play, the Clippers are still in playoff position.
Lou Williams is now the Clippers’ leading scorer with 19.9 points per game. Danilo Gallinari is scoring 18.8 points and grabbing 5.5 rebounds per contest while Montrezl Harrell has been a surprise with 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and a team-best 1.4 blocks per game. Newcomer Landry Shamet has averaged 10.3 points and 1.3 steals per game in his first six games with LA while Ivica Zubac is contributing 8.8 points and 6.7 rebounds over the same period.
The Clippers rank 7th in the league in scoring at 114.0 points per game. Los Angeles is ranked 22nd in assists with 23.4 dimes per contest and they are also 18th in rebounding at 45.0 board grabbed per outing. The Clippers have the 7th worst scoring defense in the entire NBA as they are allowing their opponents to score an average of 113.8 points per game.
| Clippers | Jazz |
|---|---|
| 34-28 ATS | 31-26 ATS |
| 33-28 O/U | 31-28 O/U |
| 114 PPG | 110 PPG |
| 113 OPPG | 106 OPPG |
Clippers
+375
Jazz
-450
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/27/19
Cooling Off
The Utah Jazz have cooled off a bit after a stretch where they won 9 out of 10 games. Utah is just 4-4 in their last eight games played or 13-5 SU in their last 18 games played. Entering this contest, the Jazz have won three in a row at home and have done so with an average winning margin of over 20 points per game.
Donovan Mitchell leads the Jazz with 22.8 points and 1.5 steals per game. Spider Mitchell is also averaging 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game for Utah. Rudy Gobert is Utah’s defensive anchor as the Stifle Tower is averaging 12.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game while scoring 15.4 points per game. Ricky Rubio is the team’s top passer with 6.1 assists aside from scoring 13.3 points per game.
Utah is ranked 20th in team scoring with 110.1 points per game. They are 11th in the league in passing at 25.2 assists per game and are ranked 11th in rebounding at 45.7 boards per contest. Utah has the 4th best scoring defense in the NBA at only 106.7 opponent points per game allowed.
Who Wins?
The Clippers are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played. Los Angeles is 4-4 SU in its last eight road games. The Jazz are also 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played and Utah is 5-1 SU in its last six home games. Head to head, the Jazz are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games versus the Clippers.
Since trading Harris, Lou Williams has been on a roll. Sweet Lou is scoring 27.6 points per game in his last five games and 25.1 points per game in his last 10 games played. Meanwhile, Montrezl Harrell has scored over 30 points in the Clippers’ last two victories. With LA getting a combined 18 points from Landry Shamet and Ivica Zubac, the Clippers have yet to feel Harris’ absence.
Utah looked like it had turned the same switch that put them in the playoffs last year but after winning nine out of 10 games recently, they’ve regressed to a 4-4 team, Still 13-5 SU over their last 18 is impressive and they look to build another streak to finish the season strong.
Los Angeles is 17-16 SU on the road and the Jazz are 19-10 SU at home this season. The Jazz have won three in a row at home while the Clippers have split their last six road games.
I’m picking the Utah Jazz to beat the Los Angeles Clippers on 2/27/19.
Other Bets To Make
Los Angeles is 6-4 ATS in its last 10 games played and the Clippers are 4-4 ATS in eight road games over that period. Utah is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games played and the Jazz are 4-2 ATS in six home games during that stretch. Head to head, the Jazz are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 encounters against the Clippers.
Clippers
+9.5 (-110)
Jazz
-9.5 (-110)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/27/19
The Clippers are 1-5 ATS in their last six games after an ATS win and also 1-5 ATS in their last six games after a straight up win. Los Angeles is also 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against opponents with a winning SU record and they are 7-19 in their last 26 games against Northwest Division teams. The Jazz are 6-0 ATS in their last six games against the Pacific Division, 4-0 ATS in their last four games after scoring at least 100 points in their previous game, 4-1 ATS in their last five home games and 5-0 ATS in their last five games overall. The Clippers are playing well but the Jazz are at home where they have won three in a row by an average winning margin of 21.33 points per game.
Prediction: Jazz -9.5
The over is 6-4 in the Clippers’ last 10 games played. The total has gone over in seven out of the last 10 games played by the Jazz. Utah has seen the total go over in four out of their last six home games. Head to head, the over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings between the Clippers and Jazz.
Clippers
O 227 -110
Jazz
U 227 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/27/19
The Clippers have averaged 116.6 points per game in their last five games while Utah has scored 124.2 per game in their last five games as well. Utah’s a very good defensive team but when its opponent forces it to score, Mitchell and company have the weapons to engage in a firefight. Two out of Utah’s last three home wins had a combined total of over 233 points. This one should top 230 as well. On the other hand, the Clippers are 7th in scoring and have the 7th worst scoring defense in the league. This one should be a high-scoring game.
Prediction: Over 227
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