TUESDAY MAY 4, 2010 – Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers
Welcome to the CappersPicks.com nba hoops weekly predictions pages! We KNOW you will find our FREE weekly NBA Playoff basketball picks, tips, betting advice, strategies, NBA Playoff gambling articles and more to help you become the best Hoops bettor on your block!!
CLICK HERE FOR THE BEST NBA WEEKLY PLAYOFF GAMBLING TIPS & FREE NBA PREDICTIONS!! —>
Team records:
Utah: 53-29 SU, 49-30-3 ATS
Los Angeles: 57-25 SU, 34-46-2 ATS
The Jazz really have nothing to do with whether they win or lose. OK, that’s a gross exaggeration, but you can say this about Utah – the team plays its game come hell, high water or Kobe Bryant.
Matchup: JAZZ vs. LAKERS
Time: Tuesday 10:30 ET
Venue: Staples Center, Los Angeles
Spread: Lakers -5.5
Over/Under: 199
If a player is out, a clone replaces it in the lineup. Deron Williams is probably the only player who can’t be replaced.
Tuesday night in Game 2 the Jazz will play pretty much the same game they played in Game 1 – decent defense, and on offense lots of back screens, pick and rolls, and high-percentage shots. Question is, will it be enough against a Lakers team that has more big bodies and a superstar who is capable of putting up 20 points in the fourth quarter?
Lakers coach Phil Jackson is impressed with the Jazz’s perseverance: “We’re very concerned,” Jackson said Monday. “They showed a great deal of confidence. They came out and they played their style of game in the second half.”
But in a league in which everyone from the commissioner to the referees pays homage to its superstars, is there any way on God’s green earth that the Jazz will be able to get by the Lakers and to the Western Conference finals?
If there is anything to be learned from Los Angeles’s Game 1 104-99 victory, the answer to that is no. Utah dominated play for most of the second half, but in the end Bryant and Pau Gasol got to the line as much as they had to, and that, as they say, was that.
Job One in the minds of the Jazz players Tuesday night is to get off to a decent start.
Utah gave up 30 first-period points to the Lakers and found itself in a 30-23 hole starting the second quarter.
It’s hard to make a big run against LA because of its size and ability to get to the line, and the Jazz couldn’t come all the way back.
Jazz vs. Lakers Free NBA Prediction
Utah backers were heartened when the Jazz had just enough at the wire to catch the cover (LA was a 7-point favorite). The Jazz are hoping to get Andrei Kirilenko back for Tuesday, which would give them another big body they desperately need.
For Los Angeles, it’s a case of keep on keepin’ on. Bryant will soften up the Jazz front line by feeding Gasol and Odom, then if it’s tight late in the game, well we all know what will happen.
The over carried in Game 1, but we’re looking hard at the under in Game 2 as teams make defensive adjustments.
CLICK HERE TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT AT SPORTSBOOK.COM AND GRAB A HUGE NBA PLAYOFFS SIGNUP GAMBLING BONUS!!
Lawrence Paul is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog, and is a free-lance gambling and travel expert from Massachusetts.
