Posted on
12/3/2007 5:32:32 PM
NBA Betting - Miami Heat (+9) vs. Utah Jazz (-9)
By D.S. Williamson
The Utah Jazz have won two games in a row and the Heat, surprise, have lost two games in a row. In particular the loss to the Denver Nuggets last night, a 115 to 95 thrashing, showed the world exactly how far the Miami Heat have fallen.
This is not that powerful Heat team that upset the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Betting Finals two years ago. It is time for all of us to finally admit that the Heat are a terrible NBA team. At this point in the season they are 4 and 12. Even more alarming, these bums are averaging only 88.8 points per game. That ranks them at 29th in the league. Ouch.
The Utah Jazz, meanwhile, are doing what they do best: playing smart basketball, tough defense, and winning games. All of it stems from their terrific coach, Jerry Sloan, and the play of their super point-guard, Derron Williams. The Jazz are a very, very good team. They also showed how tough they are by beating the Los Angeles Lakers at home without the services of Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer.
Boozer is probably and Okur is questionable for this game. According to almost every stat out there, the Jazz won’t need either one of those guys to cover the 9 point spread versus the Heat.
So, it’s the Jazz in a walk-over, right? Well, maybe. The stats say Jazz but the trends paint a somewhat different picture. Check this out:
The Utah Jazz are 6 and 2 against the spread at home.
The Miami Heat are 5 and 3 against the spread away.
The Miami Heat are 7 and 2 against the spread in their last 9 versus a team from the NBA Northwest.
There is some hope, it appears, for the Miami Heat in this game. Sure, the Heat are terrible, but terrible teams in the NBA can come up big once in a while. Without Okur and/or Boozer, the Jazz will have a hard time keeping the Miami Heat front-line away from the basket. That should mean space for Dwayne Wade to create. When Dwayne Wade creates, the Heat have a shot.
This is a tough game to call because the status of both Boozer and Okur are in the air. Neither guy was present for the Lakers’ game and the Jazz won, but don’t expect the same to happen here.
The BetUS Betting line is Miami Heat +9 against the spread on the road versus the Utah Jazz.
I like Miami to beat that spread only because I don’t believe that both Okur and Boozer will play. This might be a good time to take a nice swing on a long-shot.
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