The Utah Jazz will try and fight their way back into their Western Conference playoff betting series against Los Angeles on Saturday night as they host the Lakers in Game 3. The Jazz lost the first two games of the series in Los Angeles and now need a win to get back into the series. The Jazz have been eliminated from the playoffs the past two seasons by the Lakers and even though Utah looks like a better team this season, they are on the verge of being knocked out again. “We didn’t step up to the challenge like we were supposed to,” guard Ronnie Price said. “We didn’t play a full game. We showed signs of being great and we showed signs of being terrible.”
Utah is a 4.5 point favorite with a total of 202.5 at SBG Global.
The Jazz didn’t get blown out in the games in Los Angeles but they just couldn’t handle the frontcourt players of the Lakers. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum dominated Utah inside. “Their length really bothers you,” small forward C.J. Miles said. “It’s tough because we lack some of that size.” The Jazz are getting killed on the boards and in the paint. In the 111-103 Game 2 loss, the Jazz gave up 64 points in the paint and were outrebounded 58-40.
Last NBA betting season the Lakers won the first two games of the playoff series and the Jazz bounced back to win Game 3. “We’ve got to take care of home court now, that’s all we can do,” guard Ronnie Price said.
Here are the betting stats for Saturday’s game. The Lakers are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 Saturday games. The Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 playoff games as an underdog. The Lakers are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 road games.
The Jazz are 7-1-1 ATS in their last 9 Saturday games. The Jazz are 18-6-2 ATS in their last 26 games as a home favorite. The Home team in this series is 19-9-1 ATS in the last 29 meetings.
The Over is 5-1 in the Lakers last 6 overall. The Under is 12-4 in the Lakers last 16 games as a road underdog. The Over is 5-0 in Utah’s last 5 overall. The Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings between the two teams in Utah.
