NBA Odds: Utah Jazz vs Boston Celtics Preview & Pick
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Utah Jazz vs. Boston Celtics
Date: Friday, January 21, 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Broadcast: FSUT, CSNE
Jazz vs. Celtics lines from Sportsbook.com
Jazz: +5.5
Celtics: -5.5
Total: 194.5
Check Out Our Indepth NBA ATS Betting Stats For This Game —>
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The Boston Celtics are cutting through the league once again, but they’ve struggled to cover for NBA betting fans. The Celtics host the Utah Jazz on Friday night.
Boston (32-9, 19-19-2 ATS) is riding a four-game winning streak. The Celtics beat Detroit 86-82 on Tuesday, improving the team to 8-2 in its past 10 games. Wins have been much harder to come by against the spread, however. Boston is just 3-6-1 ATS in that span.
The team recently welcomed back Kevin Garnett. Garnett missed nine games with a calf injury, but he’s played back-to-back games for Boston. Garnett has been solid at best; he scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds against Detroit, but he’ll need to be better than that against Utah. It was a pretty rough night for Rajon Rondo, too. The point guard managed just six points, and he had his streak of double-digit assist games snapped at four.
As usual, it was tough defense that carried Boston. The team is in a heated battle with a handful of teams to lead the NBA in scoring defense. The Pistons shot just 41.9 percent from the field and were outrebounded 47-34.
Utah (27-15, 20-20-1 ATS) has flopped in its past two games, losing on the road to lowly New Jersey and Washington. The Jazz failed to cover both games, running their record to 3-10 ATS in their past 13 games.
The Jazz have had few answers as to why they’ve lost back-to-back games to such bad teams, though defense is as good a place to start as any. Utah is allowing 98.7 points per game this season but, against New Jersey and Washington, it allowed 105.5 points per game. Not a tremendous difference, but considering both opponents typically have a hard time scoring (Washington is 23rd in the NBA; Jersey is 29th), it’s a rather disappointing outcome.
Tuesday’s loss in New Jersey was especially bizarre. Utah outrebounded the Jazz (44-31) and did a much better job shooting from the floor (49.3 percent to 41.6 percent). Head coach Jerry Sloan blamed it on a lack of effort.
That likely won’t be an issue against Boston. The back-to-back losses are a wakeup call for Utah, and the club will have to bring it’s A-game to face the Celtics. Garnett, playing in just his third straight game since a prolonged absence, hasn’t quite found his stride yet. That should give the Jazz enough of an edge to cover.
Trends:
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Utah’s last 8 games
Utah is 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games
Boston is 1-4-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Boston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Utah at Boston pick: Jazz
Ian Van Den Hurk has covered amateur and pro sports for years, including a successful run handicapping anything from football to mixed martial arts.
