NBA Basketball
2013-02-12 - Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Tuesday 12 February 2013 - Tip Off 9pm
2am (British Time)
Preview
The Oklahoma City Thunder (39-12) are on a roll and have a chance to once again close the gap on the San Antonio Spurs at the top of the Western Conference. The Thunder smashed Phoenix in a home and home series over the weekend and have now won 4 in a row with momentum building ahead of their second clash with the Miami Heat this season.
It won't be easy to extend their winning run against the Utah Jazz (28-24) who are a completely different prospect on their own floor than they are on the road. Utah have a 19-6 home record this season, but they have lost back to back contests coming into this one including their last home game against the Chicago Bulls.
Oklahoma City have been winning games with some ease in recent games, with their last 4 wins coming by an average of 21 points per game and while their Offense has remained high-powered and up-tempo, the Defense is beginning to perform at a top level too. In fact, the Thunder have allowed just 88.5 points per game in their winning run.
Once again, the likes of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were given a fourth quarter rest so they should be fresh for the final two games ahead of the All-Star weekend. Both Westbrook and Durant had solid games against Utah earlier this season.
Utah are coming off a disappointing loss to Sacramento in their last game and they have been a little lethargic heading into the final games before the All-Star break. The absence of Gordon Hayward continues to affect their production off the bench and they were in a bad shape defensively against the Kings.
But it would be foolish to think the Utah players are already thinking about where they are going to take a mini-break as they are only 2.5 games clear of Portland just outside the Play Off spots. Paul Millsap said as much and mentioned the 'importance' of winning the final two games they have this week.
Head to Head
Oklahoma City are 6-1 in the last 7 games in the series with the Utah Jazz.
Utah did beat the Thunder by 7 points when they played here last March, but Oklahoma City had won 3 in a row in Salt Lake City, covering the spread on each occasion.
Prediction
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been playing really well over the last week, but playing in Utah is always tough so the spread did look a touch high to me at first glance.
However, Oklahoma City have been playing well enough to think they can continue their recent dominance over the Jazz here and I think they will make enough stops defensively to cover in this one.
The Pick :
Utah Jazz 93-101 Oklahoma City Thunder
