Basketball Betting Tips from the Best Basketball Tipsters of the net!

Well, we marked yesterday's fall on Celtics-Cavaliers Over and will have conclusions before the third game of the series in Cleveland.

In the series between the Lakers and the Jazz, it has been Bryant Gasol show so far. One sided gamest in LA did not exactly contribute to Utah self confidence. It's Now or - most probably - Never for Utah Jazz. At home, in front of the home crowd, Utah - the best home team in NBA with 37 wins and only 4 losses - will need to stop the Lakers, who are 6-0 in the playoffs this season. Otherwise, going down 0-3 will have them on the ropes, knowing, they will not beat LA four games in a row. Including two wins at the Staples Center in LA. Well, as good as the Jazz played at home - they lacked the stamina away and won only 17 times against 26 losses including two playoff losses in LA. So, tonight is the night when Utah will lay it all down. Win at all costs. The probability percentages from Accuscore show 61-39 in Utah's favor and the handicap spread for Utah win have risen from -3 to -4 points overnight. The Under/Over line stands at 215.

First of let us all understand, why Utah Jazz is such great home team. Salt Lake City is located at 4500 feet above the sea level and is physically challenging place to play if you are not accustomed to that altitude. In last season playoffs, Houston Rockets came to SLC with commanding 2-0 lead, but have dropped 2 games here and later, the whole series went to Utah with 4-3 win. Now, the Lakers went 4-0 against the Denver Nuggets including 2 wins at Denver, which is located at the higher altitude than SLC. In its dependency on running game, Denver could be compared to Utah Jazz, but that is where the certain similarities end. The key to LA wins was stopping Carlos Boozer, who was limited to 9 out of 24 made shots in two games so far. His life was made miserable by Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, each time he got to the paint. In the second game, he got into the foul trouble sooner than expected and was eliminated from influencing the game. Although EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City is considered loud place and according to Phil Jackson - LA coach - it certainly pressures the referees and the opposition, but the Lakers were one of the four teams winning here - ending Utah's 19 game home win streak in March.

Although, Utah is 6-3 Against The Spread in last 9 games at home when playing the Lakers, they are 1-7overall aginst La lakers in their last 8 games. The interesting fact to pay attention is that in each of the games described, the winner has also covered the Spread.

In Under/Over department, the story is as follows: the lakers can not afford to drop their guard in defense and, according to Utah coach, Jerry Sloan - will continue to play hard. In La, the Lakers have blocked 17 balls, and that was at home. The last time the teams scored more than 215 points in SLC was back in November 2007 (Utah win 120-96). Shootout is not likely to happen here tonight.

So, if we will go with the Jazz, since it is a best home team yet - will Kobe Bryant an NBA MVP selection influence his performance and get vout vof him even more, or quite a contrary - will Utah defense stand up to the challenge and will somehow limit the "Kobe". In the third game of the series against Denver, the Lakers, who were Underdogs with +2, have demolished the Nuggets 102-84 with Kobe Bryant's 22 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Luke Walton played well too with 15 points. The 192 points scored went UNDER 230 line for that game.

All that means for us that the Lakers do not like to be Underdogs. Period. Are they good enough to master their will and not to let TV pressure (no more 4 game series - they have sold the commercials already for at least 6 games) to prevent from them another sweep en route to the Conference Finals against either the Spurs or the Hornets?

We see it like that: if the Jazz will take this game, they will beat the Spread. If the Lakers will come out winners, it will be Under on the Game Totals ticket, and of course they will cover the spread.

There are games when we like to lay down the facts and let you guys make the decision based on the info we've given. This is one of those games and since Utah win seems trivial to all, we will go with Under on this game.

Pick : Under 215 points
Odds : 1.94
Stake : 7 / 10
Bookmaker : Canbet
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor: http://www.livegamestips.com
Date : 2008-05-09
Match Result : 104-99
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