NBA Basketball Sports Betting – Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz (4-0 SU, 3-1 ATS) put their undefeated record on the line on Friday night as they play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder (1-3 SU, 2-2 ATS) in NBA action that is slated to begin at 9 PM ET at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.
Friday, November 7
BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: UTAH -11.5, Total 181.5
Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* OKC has covered four of its last six games
* OKC has lost 20 of its last 25 games SU
* OKC has played eight of its last nine games UNDER the total
* OKC has covered four of its last six road games
* OKC has lost 13 of its last 14 road games SU
* OKC has played five of its last six road games UNDER the total
* UTAH has covered five of its last seven games
* UTAH has won four of its last five games SU
* UTAH is 16-6-1 ATS in its last 23 home games
* UTAH has won 15 of its last 17 home games SU
Also….
* OKC has covered eight of the last 11 meetings
* UTAH has won four of the last five meetings SU
* Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total
* OKC has covered five of the last six meetings as the road team
* UTAH has won 15 of the last 19 meetings SU as the home team
You can expect that the Jazz will be very pumped for the opportunity to win #1000 for coach Jerry Sloan tonight. Sloan, who has been the coach of the Jazz since December of 1988, is going to be the first NBA coach to win that many games with one team. He already holds the record, as Red Auerbach is next in line with 795. Sloan has provided stability for this franchise and in return, management has provided stability for him.
The team is stable too right now. Ronnie Price has done a good enough job filling in at the point guard spot (better than a 3-to-1 assist-turnover ratio) and the team has not lost yet, so there is not a lot of pressure to rush Deron Williams (sprained ankle) back into the lineup. The Jazz shot 50% last year, and Andrei Kirilenko (56%) and Carlos Boozer (63%) have been extra hot thus far.
The Thunder, of course, is the former Seattle SuperSonics franchise. New location, some of the same problems. Like a lack of shooting: OKC is hitting less than 41% of its shots this season. And they’re averaging less than 84 points. Kevin Durant is taking more shots than he did last season (17.5 a game) and hitting at a lower rate (41,4%).
Only four teams beat Utah at EnergySolutions Arena last year – Houston, Portland, the Lakers and Boston. This Thunder club is not up to the task here. They can not trade points, not with Boozer performing so well in the paint and few people on the Thunder side to stop him. Let’s lay the points with Utah, the 11-point favorite in the BetUS NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.
