NBA - 821 Charlotte Bobcats @ 822 Utah Jazz
Projected Line: 190 points
Utah won't have their starting frontcourt available for tonight, as both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap are currently injured. This means that they will start Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors, without any options for the frontcourt on their bench, so they will be forced to play big minutes tonight. On the backcourt, Jamaal Tinsley is now out of the rotation, so the Jazz will have their best defensive lineup playing heavy minutes tonight. It isn't even comparable how improved they will be on rim defense and defensive mobility, in comparison to their "old" lineup. This will be especially important against a team like the Bobcats tonight, who have no presence on the down low, but who have quick guards, who would be a very tough matchup for Utah, if their starting frontcourt was formed by Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, two players without the speed to defend them. But with Kanter and Favors starting tonight, Utah will defend transition plays better, they will protect the basket basket and I would even say that their pick and roll defense will also be improved tonight. So, Charlotte's offense will have a tough day today, especially when they haven't been good lately with offensive ratings of 88.3, 101.9 and 91.0 on their last three contests!
The question is that the presence of Kanter and Favors in the starting lineup will at the same time limit their offensive efficiency. Utah's offense normally relies on Al Jefferson's and Paul Millsap's post up moves, an area where Kanter and Favors are far from having the same efficiency. Of course Utah should improve their offensive rebounding skills with this lineup, but Kanter and Favors can't create their own shot in the way to Jefferson and Millsap generally can. The Bobcats aren't a good matchup for Utah's offense. Charlotte has the worst perimeter defense in the league, with some terrible close outs on the shooters, but as we all know, Utah isn't a good jump shooting team. This gets even more problematic when their offensive skilled big men are out for tonight's contest, so I doubt that Utah will have a good floor spacing tonight, something that will allow the Bobcats to use some zone defense on them and also pack the paint on defense as well. I see this game being a low scoring affair due to Utah's lineup in tonight's game, therefore I'll be taking the Under in here.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 821/822 Under 194,5 @ -110 / 1.91 on Betonline
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