The Utah Jazz need a pick-me-up quick after they were limited to a season-low 69 points against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. They take on a hot Cleveland Cavaliers team headed by LeBron James. Can the Jazz cool down the surging Cavs? Or will James once again put on a show at Quicken Loans Arena? Read on as we answer these questions for you.
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There were few bright spots for the Utah Jazz in their loss to San Antonio on Sunday. Rudy Gobert was one of them as he finished with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting and 18 rebounds.
[sc:NBA240banner ]This bright spot may be enough to help the Jazz frontcourt against Cleveland. Utah out-rebounded the Cavaliers 41-30 in the first matchup between the two teams on November 5. Gobert scored seven points in that game and had four rebounds. Still, he made his presence felt on the defensive end with three blocks. Gobert has averaged four blocks over his last five games.
If the Jazz are to escape with another win over the Cavaliers, they’ll need some pieces to fall into place. One of those is the play of Derrick Favors. In his previous six games, Favors averaged 20.7 points and 10.2 rebounds before being held to nine points and 13 rebounds against San Antonio. Still, you can expect a big game from Favors at Cleveland. He finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in the previous matchup on November 5.
The Jazz also need Gordon Hayward at the top of his game. He leads the Jazz with 19 points per game. Hayward has been especially efficient from three-point range, shooting 46 percent over the past three games. The Cavaliers have allowed opponents to shoot 37 percent from downtown in home games this season (27th in the league).
The total has gone under in eight of Utah’s last 10 games.
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Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James scored 26 points, J.R. Smith hit six three-pointers and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to their third straight win (3-0 ATS), downing the Chicago Bulls, 108-94, on Monday. The Cavs turned up the defensive pressure as they limited Chicago to its lowest output over the Bulls’ last five games.
Against the generous defense of Utah (23rd in the league), expect James to have another big game from the field. He has shot 52 percent in the four games he’s played since returning from injury. Smith has been on fire from downtown during that stretch, sinking in 49 percent of his three-point attempts. The Jazz are 29th in the league in three-point defense.
Rounding up the Cavs are Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Over the past two games, Irving has shown that if he can’t rack up points like he did against the Clippers (37 points) he can dish out assists finishing with 18 points and 12 dimes against Chicago. Love struggled against the tight defense of Chicago going 3-for-13 from the field. Still, he had a double-double finishing with 16 points (nine of which came from the charity stripe) and 12 rebounds.
The total has gone under in eight of Cleveland’s last 10 games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cavs win and cover comfortably. The total going under is also worth a look for some extra winnings.
