NBA Basketball
2012-01-10 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Utah Jazz
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Tuesday 10 January 2012 - Tip Off 9pm ET
2am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Utah Jazz (5-3) have enjoyed a very successful start to their season at Salt Lake City, but will have a boost of confidence from winning their first road game of the season. The Jazz had won all 4 home games, but lost 3 road games by an average of 19 points per game before winning in Golden State last time out.
Utah are enjoying their best winning run since the end of 2010, and they are looking to win their 5th consecutive game to start a season for the first time since 2008.
The Jazz will hope Devin Harris can find the same kind of form that saw him take it to the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-4) that he had in his last 2 games against them, both when he was still a New Jersey Net. Harris had 45 points and 19 assists in his last 2 games against Cleveland and this will be his first start against them while a Utah player.
Cleveland have made a far better start to this season than they did last year and the fans can see the green shoots of recovery since the departure of LeBron James. Kyrie Irving has proved why he was picked as the Number 1 overall in the Draft, although he is still making a few rookie mistakes that have to be expected.
The Cavaliers have lost 2 of their last 3 games as they continue on their Western Conference road trip, the latest being a hammering at Portland. They have still to play Phoenix and the Lakers before they travel back East to face Charlotte.
Head to Head
Utah crushed Cleveland when they met here last year, and they improved to 4-1 against them in the last 5 in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz are 3-0-1 against the spread in the last 4 games in the series, but Cleveland had covered 10 in a row before that and 12 of the last 13.
Utah are 4-4 against the spread this season, Cleveland are 5-3.
Utah are 1-1 against the spread as the favourite, Cleveland are 3-2 as the underdog.
Other Interesting Trends
Utah are only 2-11 against the spread in their last 13 games as the home favourite of between 5 and 10.5 points.
Cleveland are 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 games as the road underdog being given between 5 and 10.5 points.
However, they are 12-25-1 against the spread in their last 38 games against teams from the Western Conference.
Prediction
I am going to back the Utah Jazz to win this game and cover the spread for the following reasons:
First, Utah are a very strong team at home over the last few seasons and they have dominated games against Cleveland in the last 4 in the series.
Second, Cleveland are in the midst of a tough road trip, something that is hard for the rookies to deal with as they have a lack of experience. This is especially so when the team has taken 2 heavy losses in 3 games.
Third, Utah have won their last 2 games on the front end of a back to back schedule.
The Pick :
Utah Jazz 102-94 Cleveland Cavaliers
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Utah Jazz - 5.5 Points @ 1.95
