NBA Premium Play 01/17: Los Angeles Clippers @ Utah Jazz

NBA - 513 Los Angeles Clippers @ 514 Utah Jazz

Projected lines: 186 points | Utah by 1 pointUtah is a very predictable team. If they face a team with a poor paint defense and they can get an edge on the froncourt, they are a very dangerous team. However, if their opponents can stop their frontcourt game, they're pretty much toasted, as their offensive game almost exclusively relies on what their frontcourt can do. So, it's not a surprise that Utah uses a lot of Post Up plays. However, the Clippers are 7th in post up defense and the Jazz basically struggle on every other kind of plays: Spot Up 24th, Isolation 22nd, Transitions 26th, Cuts 15th and Pick&Roll 26th. Utah is also a quite effective team when they get offensive boards, however the Clippers with Jordan, Blake and Evans and they won't allow them to grab a lot of offensive boards tonight.

So, I expect the Clippers to be able to make the Jazz offense struggle tonight, as they have the bodies to defend well the rim and their only problem for tonight has to go with the heavy minutes that their starters played yesterday, with all their starters playing more than 34 minutes, with Blake playing 40 minutes and Foye 41 minutes. With Chris Paul and Mo Williams out of the game, the Clippers have no bench and so, they'll have to rely on their starters for tonight's game and nobody else really.

I expect this game to be a bit physical, with both defenses being able to cause some problems to the offenses. The Clippers should be able to cause problems to the Jazz frontcourt game and consequently, to the whole offense of Utah, while the Clippers without Chris Paul running the game will naturally struggle a bit as well. Even with the Clippers missing two of their key pieces for this season, especially their main star, I believe they will turn this game into a ballgame and so, I see value on them for tonight. I also believe this game will be played on a slow pace and without great offensive efficiency and therefore, I came up with a projection line of 186 points for tonight. So, looking at the current lines, I'll be taking both the Clippers and the under on this contest.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 513/514 Under 190 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 513 Los Angeles Clippers (+4) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker