NBA Basketball
2019-02-28 - Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Thursday 28th February 2019 - Tip Off 10:30pm
British Time: 3:30am
Preview
If a team wants to validate how well they have been playing in the NBA they just need to start checking how many times they are being picked for national television coverage. For the second time in three days the Denver Nuggets (42-18) are going to be going on for the nation to watch and they are rounding back into the kind of form that saw them leading the Western Conference earlier this season.
A blip was to be expected, but the Nuggets have shown real character to not only come out of it but to also get back to chasing down the Golden State Warriors for the Number 1 Seed in the Conference. A run of five wins culminating with the home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder two days ago has seen the Nuggets consolidate their spot as the Number 2 Seed in the Conference, but the slips from the Warriors means they are only 0.5 games behind the defending Champions.
If results go their way on Thursday, Denver could actually be leading the Conference standings by the end of the night, but the team won't be concerned about that. With 22 games still to negotiate in the regular season, the Nuggets will instead be focused on hosting the Utah Jazz (34-26) who could be a potential First Round Series for the Nuggets in their return to the Play Offs after a six year absence.
The Jazz currently hold the Number 6 Seed in the Western Conference but it is a tight portion of the Play Off picture and just 6 games separate the Number 5 Houston Rockets to the Number 10 Los Angeles Lakers. Utah have been improving in each passing month of the NBA season which means they are likely to be looking up the standings, but this could be a difficult spot for them facing a Denver team that has been resting while the Jazz were winning a tough game at the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday evening.
These two teams do match up with each other with both looking to dominate inside the paint to open things up for their shooters, but potential fatigue is an issue in the thin air of Mile High City for the Utah Jazz to deal with.
In a game where both teams will approach it in a similar way, the extra energy in the legs could prove to be the difference and this is a series where home advantage has proved very important. The home team is now 13-3 against the spread in the last sixteen in the series and Denver have covered in five games in a row at home against the Utah Jazz.
The Nuggets beat and covered against the Oklahoma City two days ago to improve to 13-5 against the spread at home against teams with a winning record. While Utah have some very strong recent trends in their favour, they are just 4-11 against the spread in their last fifteen when playing the second of back to back nights play and I think the home team may just have too much energy for them in this one too.
Prediction
Lay the points with the home favourite.
The Pick :
Denver Nuggets 109-99 Utah Jazz
