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Bulls vs. Jazz Free NBA Pick

NBA betting preview and free pick for tonights matchup between the Bulls and the Jazz. The Utah Jazz are a 6 1/2-point favorite…

NBA Sports Betting – Chicago Bulls at Utah Jazz

The Chicago Bulls (6-8 SU, 8-6 ATS), struggling with their shooting once again, play another game in the high altitude on Monday night to take on the Utah Jazz (9-5 SU, 7-7 ATS) in NBA pro basketball sports betting action that is slated to tip off at 9 PM ET at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: UTAH -6.5, Total 202

Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* CHI has covered four of its last six games
* CHI has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* CHI has played four of its last five road games OVER the total
* UTAH has won nine of its last ten home games SU
* UTAH has played its last six games OVER the total
* UTAH has covered four of its last six home games
* UTAH has played its last four home games OVER the total

Also…

* UTAH has won four of the last five meetings SU
* CHI has covered six of the last nine meetings
* CHI has covered four of the last five meetings as the road team
* UTAH has had the shooting edge in four of the last five meetings
* UTAH has had the rebounding edge in six of the last eight meetings

Derrick Rose is serving notice that he is eventually going to be the floor leader the Chicago Bulls are looking for. The 6’3″ rookie out of the University of Memphis is shooting 48%, which is a pleasant surprise, with 18.9 points a game, and his assist-turnover ratio is over 2-to-1. He bounced back from a 1-for-8 performance against Portland on November 19 with a 12-for-19 effort and 25 points against Golden State on Friday. He has not missed a free throw in his last four games, going 11-for-11 during that stretch.

Both teams are dealing with injuries at the moment. Deron Williams is out again with his ankle injury, and could return on Wednesday, while Carlos Boozer, who has a quadriceps injury, is gone for about a week more. For Chicago, Luol Deng, the most dependable frontcourt scorer they have, has been struggling with a hamstring ailment, and it is questionable as to whether he’ll play. Rose himself has a bruised hip, and Kirk Hinrich’s thumb has prevented him from playing. Inside scoring has been a problem for Vinny Del Negro’s team for some time, and they are thinking about trying to put together a deal to obtain Chris Kaman from the Clippers.

For Utah it’s Ronnie Price stepping in again at point guard, Ronnie Brewer picking up some of the scoring slack and Paul Millsap with extended playing time. Mehmet Okur has accelerated his offense as well, scoring 23 against Memphis on Saturday. Jerry Sloan was all over his team for yielding 52% shooting and 119 points to a San Antonio team that was playing without Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, and the team responded by beating the Grizzlies by nine points. But they didn’t win with defense; they allowed Memphis to shoot 47%, and no starter had more than four rebounds.

They take some of these deficiencies into Monday’s game, but what they have is a scheduling advantage. They have had a day of rest while Chicago is coming to Salt Lake City after having played in Denver last night. Chicago has had to go with a smaller lineup out of necessity, since size doesn’t appear to be in abundance. And in terms of dealing with rosters that are temporarily short-handed or in flux, Sloan has the big edge over rookie coach Del Negro. We lay the points with Utah, the 6.5-point favorite in the BetUS NBA pro basketball betting odds.

Our PLAY: UTAH -6.5 ***

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"