#1 LA Lakers vs. #8 Utah Jazz 10:30 ET
On Thursday evening Bookmaker Sportsbook presents a fantastic NBA betting match-up between the eighth seeded Utah Jazz (48-36, 40-44-0 ATS) and the one seeded Los Angeles Lakers (67-17, 44-40-0 ATS) in Game 3 of this best of seven series at Energy Solutions Arena. The Lakers lead the series 2-0 after back-to-back dominant victories in the first two games against the Jazz.Los Angeles is 11-5-1 ATS in its L/17 meetings with the Utah and 1-1 ATS in this round after coming up just short of covering the 11-point spread in Game 2. The Lakers are an exceptional 29-12 SU on the road this season while the Jazz are an equally impressive 33-8 SU at home.
The current NBA betting line for Game 3 has the Lakers set as 1.5-point road favorites, which is quite a low number for them to cover. The ‘total’ for this match-up is set at a rather high 214. The first two games of this series have climbed ‘over’ totals of 211 and 210.5 respectively.
The Lakers enter this game as surprisingly slim favorites after taking their last three meetings with the Jazz by an average of 11.5 PPG. This series could quickly turn into a formality if the Lakers offense keeps producing 116 PPG as they have to open the playoffs. Lakers G Kobe Bryant has averaged 25 PPG, five RPG, and 8.5 APG against the Utah’s porous defense. Bryant has to be the leading MVP candidate as he finished the season averaging 26.8 PPG and lead the Lakers to the second best record in the NBA. Los Angeles ranked third in the NBA scoring an average of 106.9 PPG during the regular season, and ranked 13th in the league allowing 99.3 PPG; the 7.7 point differential was the second best mark in the league behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Jazz are a team, that simply put, are on their last legs of the 2008-09 campaign. Utah’s one-man show offense hasn’t worked thus far as G Deron Williams scored 35 points in Game two’s loss. Williams has led the way for the Jazz in their L/10 games and they are just 2-8 SU during that stretch. The Jazz scored 103.6 PPG during the season ranking them seventh in the league. Utah gives up 100.9 PPG ranking them in the middle of the pack at 18th in the NBA. Utah is 4-6-1 ATS in its L/10 games against Los Angeles (1-4 SU & 2-3 ATS in ’08-’09), while the ‘under’ is 11-2 in Utah’s L/13 home games.
This is a do-or-die game for the Utah Jazz who can forget about winning this series if they drop Game 3. Look for the Lakers to easily cover this extraordinarily small spread with the way they’ve manhandled the Jazz recently. If you are one of those bettors who like to believe, “Desperation leads to inspiration,” the Jazz are your pick in this game. If not, roll with the chalk!
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