Utah Jazz vs LA Clippers 06/14/2021 NBA Odds, Preview, and Prediction

The Utah Jazz and the LA Clippers play Game 4 of their best-of-seven second-round series at the Staples Center on Monday night.

Utah is still up 2-1 in the series but after a big victory by the Clippers in Game 3, momentum has clearly shifted to their side. The Jazz are still going to be without Mike Conley in Game 4 while Donovan Mitchell’s ankle will be something to watch for. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will look to duplicate their Game 3 performance and tie this series on Monday with Game 5 scheduled to be played in Utah.

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz lost for the first time in the 2021 playoffs with Donovan Mitchell playing. Utah’s other loss in the current playoffs came in Game 1 of the first round when Mitchell sat out with the same ankle injury. Mitchell hurt the same ankle in the 4th quarter of Game 3 but he says it’s not an issue moving forward and he is ready for Game 4.

Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson had a poor shooting display in Game 3 as they would combine to hit only 7-26 of their shots for a total of 23 points. Joe Ingles is coming off a 19-point performance with five triples while Mitchell still managed 30 points despite leaving the game early. Utah will need another big game from Mitchell if they are to win at Staples Center.

Los Angeles Clippers

The LA Clippers looked like they were down and out after the Jazz won the first two games of the series. But Kawhi Leonard said that his team still had a lot of fight left and they showed that in Game 3 by beating the Jazz by 26 points.

Leonard scored a game-high 34 points while also grabbing 12 rebounds with 5 assists, 2 steals, and one blocked shot. Paul George finally showed his All-Star game with 31 points while going 6-10 from deep. Nicolas Batum and Reggie Jackson added 17 points each for the home team. The Clippers matched the Jazz with 19 three-pointers made and got valuable bench contributions from Patrick Beverley, Luke Kennard, and Terrence Mann.

Who Wins?

Utah is 6-1 SU in their last seven games played. The Jazz are 4-1 SU in their last five road games, and 4-2 in their last six games played in June. The Clippers 5-51 in their last 10 games played. Los Angeles is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games played at home, and 1-4 SU in their last five games against the Northwest Division. Head to head, the Jazz are 11-4 SU in their last 15 games played against the Clippers.

The Jazz looked like they had the Clippers’ number when they won the first two games of the series. Donovan Mitchell has been unstoppable and Utah has shot very well from three-point distance. However, the Jazz were just 36-84 from the floor in Game 3 and they committed seven more turnovers than the Clippers. They also allowed the Clippers to match them with 19 three-pointers made.

Utah is going to come out shooting no matter what and the Clippers will just have to match them with big games from their two superstars. Unless George reverts to being Pandemic P, the Clippers should be good here. The Clippers still have the more talented team than the Jazz. It’s just a matter of not letting Utah go off from downtown. Leonard started this series slowly and sometimes tentative. But we saw the real Kawhi Leonard in Game 3. That version is going to be the difference here.

Prediction: LA Clippers

Other Bets to Make

The Jazz are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games played. Utah is 6-1 ATS in their last seven games when scoring 100 or more points in their previous game, 6-1 ATS in their last seven games against an opponent with a winning record, and 4-1 ATS in their last five home games.

However, Utah is just 1-6 ATS in their last seven games against an opponent with a winning home record, 0-5 ATS in their last five games as underdogs, and 0-4 ATS in their last four games as road underdogs.

The Clippers meanwhile are 5-1 ATS in their last six playoff games as the betting favorite, 4-1 ATS in their last five Monday games, 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games when playing on one day rest, and 4-1 in their last five Monday games.

Head to head, the Jazz are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 meetings against the LA Clippers. Utah is also 9-4 ATS in their last 13 meetings at Staples Center.

I don’t expect Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic to struggle in back to back games. JC shot just 5-16 in Game 3 and scored only 14 points while Bogdanovic was just 2-10 from the floor with 9 points. Both should have bounce back games here.

However, the Clippers won big despite Marcus Morris scoring just six points. If Paul George can stay consistent, I don’t see how the Clippers can’t cover the spread. The Clippers’ five playoff wins have come by seven or more points, and four have been by double digits.

Prediction: Clippers -4.5

The total has gone over in seven out of the last eight games played by the Jazz. The over is 4-0-1 in their last five games as road underdogs. The over is also 4-1-1 in Utah’s last six games as betting underdogs, and 7-1 in their last eight games when scoring 100 or more points in their previous game.

The under is 17-8-1 in the Clippers’ last 26 games played. The under is 11-5-1 in their last 17 games as betting favorites, 7-3-1 in their last 11 home games, and 10-4-2 in their last 16 games as playoff betting favorites. The total has gone under in 20 out of their last 30 games against an opponent with a winning percentage of over .600.

The last two games of this series have seen a total of at least 228 points. Game 1 went under but they combined for 221 points. These are two of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA this season and they hit a combined 38 three-pointers in Game 3. Make no mistake these are two of the top defensive teams in the league too. However, at the rate they are scoring in this series, 223.5 may be too low for these teams.

Prediction: Over 223.5

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