Tony George
Jazz and Nuggets Over 215
All but 1 game has gone over and expect the Nuggets facing elimination to shoot lights out at home. The backcourt for Denver needs to step up in scoring, and the backcourt for the Jazz already has. Denver scores well at home, while playing little defense, and I expect the trend to continue again tonight in a major shootout for all the marbles so to speak. Play 1 Unit on the OVER
TEDDY COVERS
Boston Red Sox
Utah Jazz
Larry Ness
10* Hawks
9* Nuggets
TIM TRUSHEL
20* Toronto Under
Detroit Tigers Under
Atlanta Hawks Under
Power Play Wins
Utah Jazz +7
Evan Altemus
3 Units Utah/Denver Over 215
Denver is going to bring everything they have in this game. When the Nuggets do that, the effort is shown on the offensive end. They are a stone cold over team at home when playing with motivation. Three out of four of the games in this series have been over and have gone over this total. Oddsmakers do not want to increase this total too much because it’s already a high number, however both teams are able to score over 100 points with relative ease in this series. I expect Denver to score close to 120 points in this game, while Utah should score at least 105 points. Look for this game to go over the total in the last minutes of the 4th quarter.
Marc Lawrence
Atlanta -9
Simply put, the Hawks are in a solid winning situation this evening as playoff home favorites of five or more points, playing off back-to-back losses exact of seven or more points each are 29-2 SU and 21-9-1 ATS, including 10-0 ATS if they won less than 65 games last season and the Over/Under total in this game is 185 or more. In addition, playoff home teams off back-to-back losses, the last as a road favorite, are 16-1 SU and 13-4 ATS if the Over/Under total in this game is 180 or more. Look for the Hawks to re-establish home court advantage here tonight.
Lenny Del Genio
Denver -6.5
After winning the first game of this series by double digits, the Nuggets have gone in the tank losing the last three games. On Sunday night it was a disaster (good for us as we had Utah) as they let the Jazz hit 53% of their shots. The Nuggets, all of a sudden aren’t hitting their shots. In that first game they couldn’t miss connecting on 57% from the floor. However, since then they are shooting only 44% of their attempts. Tonight, the series shifts back to Denver and the Nuggets have their playoff lives on the line. Can they pull it together and extend the series? We think so. The line on the game has the Nuggets as a sizable 6.5-point favorite. This is the perfect number for Denver as they are 16-3 ATS on their home floor the last two seasons as favorites of 6.5-9 points. The lack of depth with two contributors out for the Jazz will hurt them tonight, and we don’t look for Boozer to have back to back big games. Nuggets win big tonight on their home floor. Play on Denver!
Bob Balfe
Denver -7
The Nuggets have lost three straight to a banged-up Utah team, who now seem impossible to beat at Salt Lake City. Although the Nuggets trail the series 3-1, they are still the better overall team and being at home will allow them to get a big revenge win. Utah has been a public-bet team all season and this line is very appealing and augmented to Jazz bettors. In the end, the Nuggets will have too much fire power tonight... Carmelo Anthony and Billups will push this series to a decisive Game 6. Take Denver.
Rocketman
Cleveland +160
Cleveland bullpen has a decent 3.70 ERA on the road this year. LA Angels are scoring only 3.9 runs per game at home this year. Santana is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA at home this year. Westbrook has a 3.10 ERA overall vs LA Angels since 1997. Santana is 0-6 with a 6.03 ERA overall vs Cleveland since 1997. Indians are 7-3 in Westbrooks last 10 starts vs. American League West. Angels are 1-5 in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400. Angels are 1-6 in Santanas last 7 starts as a favorite. Angels are 1-7 in Santanas last 8 starts as a home favorite. Angels are 0-4 in Santanas last 4 home starts vs. a team with a losing record. Angels are 0-4 in Santanas last 4 Wednesday starts. Angels are 0-7 in Santanas last 7 starts vs. Indians. Angels are 0-4 in Santanas last 4 home starts vs. Indians. We'll play Cleveland for 3 units tonight!
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
10* Denver -7
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the home side:
Utah has defied the odds and its pundits and has a commanding 3-1 series lead; I expect this team to have a letdown tonight though as it will look to finish this series in Game 6 in front of its own home town crowd.
The Jazz always struggle on the road against the Nuggets; just 1-4-1 ATS their last six at the Pepsi Center.
On the other side of the court: Obviously this is a "do or die" situation for the Nuggets; last night we played successfully on the Mavericks who were facing the same situation; the night before that it was on the Suns (although that series was tied 2-2 heading into Game 5, the Suns still looked at it as a "must win"); I believe Carmelo Anthony's supporting cast will finally make an appearance in this series again.
Keep in mind that Denver is in fact 6-2 ATS as a home favorite of 6 1/2 to 9 points.
Bottom line: No need to overanalyze; a loss tonight would be a titanic season failure for this team; just as the Mav's played their best game of their series last night, I expect the same from DENVER;
Lenny Del Genio
Twins
EXECUTIVE
300% Denver Nuggets
150% Texas Rangers