Betting news, trends, odds and predictions for from various handicappers and websites
NBA playoffs
Jazz @ Rockets (1-0)
Game 1 was 64-39 at halftime; Houston made 17-32 on arc as they jogged to their Game 1 win. Utah PG Rubio (hamstring) is out here. Houston won/covered its last five games with the Jazz; Utah is 2-5 SU/ATS in its last seven visits to Houston. Eight of last 11 series games went over the total. Jazz lost three of their last five road games. Under is 6-3 in last nine series games. Rockets won five of their last seven home games (4-3 vs spread). Three of Rockets’ last four games went over total. Under is 6-3 in Utah’s last nine games.
Western Conference Semifinals - Game 2 - Rockets lead 1-0
Utah at Houston (-11/205), TNT, 9:05 p.m. ET
The Rockets have won their last three playoff home games by double-digits, which includes a commanding victory in this series opener on Sunday. Houston led by 25 points at halftime and finished 17-for-32 on 3-pointers to run away with a 110-96 win.
It was far from a perfect performance since the Rockets’ typically strong bench was outscored 40-13, but definitely provided a reminder that only the Warriors can match Houston’s ability to pull away from teams due to prolific shooting from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Rockets held the Jazz to just 7-for-22 shooting on 3-pointers as rookie star Donovan Mitchell made only one of his seven attempts.
Houston held on for the Game 1 cover as an 11-point favorite as Utah was able to pull within 11 points only once in the entire fourth quarter. Joe Ingles’ layup with 8.4 seconds remaining provided the game’s final basket, allowing those who got in on under 206.5 to sneak off with the cash.
Oddsmakers have the Rockets as an 11-point chalk again in Game 2 and have dropped the total slightly to 205.
James Harden scored his team’s first five points and finished with a dozen in the first quarter to ensure that the Rockets got off to a strong start. He finished with 41 points in easily getting the better of a defense regarded as one of the NBA’s best. Defensive player of the year frontrunner Rudy Gobert failed to come up with even one block.
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder commented that his team must make life harder on him but didn’t seem to have many answers on how to do so.
Harden matched a playoff career-high with his seven 3-pointers in Game 1. He averaged 34.3 points against Utah over the course of four regular-season victories – all by double-digits – so keep that in mind if you’re taking points.
The Jazz have now dropped five games against Houston by an average of 16.8 points in what has been a rough matchup for them since Gobert’s ability to control the paint doesn’t factor in as heavily due to the Rockets’ perimeter prowess and the fact Harden and Chris Paul can so easily get buckets for teammates.
Houston won big despite its entire bench being outscored by Jae Crowder 21-13, which has to be disconcerting if you’re the Jazz. Eric Gordon led the reserves with seven points, all on free throws, and went 0-for-6 from the field. That’s unlikely to happen again. Lue Richard Mbah a Moute saw his first action this postseason and shot 1-for-5 in his first stint since dislocating his shoulder on April 10. Ryan Anderson went scoreless in nine minutes, while Gerald Green came in only in garbage time late.
Expect a stronger effort from the Rockets’ backups at home now that they know what to expect in Game 2. The question now becomes, can Utah step up its level of play. Crowder will be invaluable in this series since he’s being counted on to do his best against Harden, while rookie Royce O’Neale stepped into the starting lineup with Ricky Rubio sidelined by a hamstring injury.
He’s unlikely to play until Game 4 at the earliest, so making this is a series will hinge on getting more from Mitchell, who shot 9-for-22 and is playing with nagging foot and ankle injuries. Dante Exum and Alec Burks also got increased minutes with Rubio out and combined to shoot 5-for-14, missing all three 3-point attempts. Outside of Crowder’s strong effort from beyond the arc, the rest of the Jazz combined to shoot 2-for-15 on 3s. That won’t cut it.
Houston’s ability to play small is also likely to force Snyder’s hand in how much he can utilize Derrick Favors and Gobert together since both can be taken advantage of on pick-and-rolls. Utah’s bigs combined to shoot 6-for-9 from the field but had nowhere near the impact they enjoyed against Oklahoma City. Snyder knew that incorporating both effectively would be a challenge coming into the series and quickly saw that come to fruition in Game 1. I’d expect to see more of Jonas Jerebko on Wednesday night in addition to more of either Burks or Exum in smaller lineups.
It remains to be seen if that tweak will result in a higher-scoring game. Dating back to the final few games of the regular season, the under is 6-3 in the last nine Jazz games. Utah surrendered 110 points, the second-highest figure it has given up in these playoffs, and has now given up at least that many in four of the five encounters with the Rockets, who torched them for a season-worst 137 way back on Nov. 5 thanks to Harden’s season-high 56 points. He shot 19-for-25 in that game, which was so long ago that Rodney Hood was in Utah’s starting lineup ahead of Mitchell, who led the way with 17 points off the bench.
It’s no secret that the Jazz’s prized rookie views Paul as a mentor of sorts, but their friendship was a non-factor in the series opener. Paul said it was “easy” to set it aside since it’s competition and “nothing personal,” but we’ll see how Game 2 unfolds since the veteran should have an advantage at the point as he chases the first conference finals appearance of his 12-year career. Thus far, Paul is averaging 18.7 points and 6.5 assists in these playoffs, right in line with his regular-season averages. He had his best outing, a 27-point effort, in Game 2 against Minnesota.
Clint Capela added 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Jazz and has registered double-doubles in three straight playoff games. If he continues to match the production of Gobert and Favors on his own, Utah isn’t likely to win a single game in the series.
The under had been on a 9-1 run in Houston games entering Game 3 of the Minnesota series but the over came in three straight times as the Rockets put the Timberwolves away 4-1. The under barely held on in Game 1 against the Jazz, aided in part by Utah’s 13-for-22 performance from the free-throw line. The over went 3-1 in the regular-season meetings between these squads, who will get together in Salt Lake City for Game 3 on Friday night.
May 2, 2018
By Tony Mejia
Preview: Jazz at Rockets
Gracenote
May 1, 2018
The Houston Rockets look to take a 2-0 lead when they host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal series. Star guard James Harden scored 41 points in Houston's series-opening 110-96 victory to continue his season-long assault of the Jazz.
Harden averaged 34.3 points in four meetings with the Utah in the regular season -- including a 56-point outing -- and the defensive-minded Jazz once again had no answers on slowing down the MVP candidate. "You can put a list of about 28 other teams that don't have an answer, either," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters. "There's no answer. He might play bad because he's human, but there's nothing that you can conceivably come up with to stop him." Utah isn't fretting over the Game 1 loss as it also lost the opener of its first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder before recovering to win in six games. "We were in the exact same situation," Jazz small forward Joe Ingles told reporters. "Everyone had written us off after Game 1, probably the way they have now. We have a great group. We love being able to have the time to watch the film and make some adjustments."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE JAZZ: Rookie guard Donovan Mitchell is picking up a large portion of the ball-handling with veteran point guard Ricky Rubio (hamstring) sidelined and he committed four turnovers to go with 9-of-22 shooting while scoring 21 points in the opener. The point total was Mitchell's lowest in seven games this postseason and he was also hampered by a sore ankle, which he insists won't be a problem in Game 2. "My head was never down, and I don't think my teammates' heads were down," Mitchell told reporters. "It's one game out of a long series."
ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Harden had nothing to reveal for why he typically enjoys success against a team that ranked sixth in scoring defense at 102.4 during the regular season. "For the most part, I'm going to do what I do," Harden told reporters. "Offensively I think this team, us, we're different. We've seen so many different defenses throughout the year that have prepared us for this moment, whether it's (Utah center Rudy) Gobert being back at the rim or teams switching or whatever. We've seen pretty much it all, all year." Harden received complementary help from point guard Chris Paul (17 points), center Clint Capela (16 points, 12 rebounds) and forward PJ Tucker (15 points) in the opener.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. It remains unclear whether Rubio will return later in the series -- the length of it would be one of the factors.
2. Utah reserve F Jae Crowder had 21 points and five 3-pointers in the series opener, his second-best totals in each category this postseason.
3. Houston reserve SG Eric Gordon missed all six of his shots in Game 1 and is shooting just 31.4 percent from the field in the postseason.
PREDICTION: Rockets 117, Jazz 112
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ATS Trends
Utah
Jazz are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games playing on 2 days rest.
Jazz are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Wednesday games.
Jazz are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
Jazz are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 Conference Semifinals games.
Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games.
Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Jazz are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. NBA Southwest.
Houston
Rockets are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 Wednesday games.
Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. Western Conference.
Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Northwest.
Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Rockets are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Conference Semifinals games.
Rockets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.
OU Trends
Utah
Under is 4-0 in Jazz last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
Under is 8-0 in Jazz last 8 Wednesday games.
Under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 road games.
Under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
Over is 8-2 in Jazz last 10 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Over is 8-3-1 in Jazz last 12 Conference Semifinals games.
Over is 5-2 in Jazz last 7 games following a straight up loss.
Over is 25-10 in Jazz last 35 vs. NBA Southwest.
Over is 5-2 in Jazz last 7 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 12-5 in Jazz last 17 games playing on 2 days rest.
Over is 7-3 in Jazz last 10 games following a ATS loss.
Under is 7-3 in Jazz last 10 games following a straight up loss of more than 10 points.
Under is 13-6 in Jazz last 19 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
Houston
Under is 6-1 in Rockets last 7 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
Under is 5-1 in Rockets last 6 Wednesday games.
Under is 4-1 in Rockets last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.
Under is 8-2 in Rockets last 10 games following a straight up win.
Under is 18-6 in Rockets last 24 home games.
Under is 27-9 in Rockets last 36 vs. Western Conference.
Over is 6-2 in Rockets last 8 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Under is 16-6 in Rockets last 22 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 18-7 in Rockets last 25 overall.
Over is 10-4 in Rockets last 14 Conference Semifinals games.
Under is 7-3 in Rockets last 10 games following a straight up win of more than 10 points.
Under is 18-8 in Rockets last 26 games following a ATS win.
Head to Head
Favorite is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Houston.
Over is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
Jazz are 2-8 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Houston.
Jazz are 0-5 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
NBA
Long Sheet
Wednesday, May 2
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UTAH (52 - 37) at HOUSTON (70 - 18) - 5/2/2018, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
HOUSTON is 17-6 ATS (+10.4 Units) against Northwest division opponents this season.
HOUSTON is 21-11 ATS (+8.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
UTAH is 16-7 ATS (+8.3 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game - 2nd half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
HOUSTON is 8-4 against the spread versus UTAH over the last 3 seasons
HOUSTON is 8-4 straight up against UTAH over the last 3 seasons
8 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NBA
Wednesday, May 2
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Trend Report
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Utah Jazz
Utah is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Utah's last 6 games
Utah is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Utah is 16-5 SU in its last 21 games on the road
Utah is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Utah's last 5 games on the road
Utah is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Houston
Utah is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Houston
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Utah's last 8 games when playing Houston
Utah is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Houston
Utah is 2-10 SU in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Houston
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Utah's last 5 games when playing on the road against Houston
Houston Rockets
Houston is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Houston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 18 of Houston's last 25 games
Houston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Utah
Houston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Utah
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Houston's last 8 games when playing Utah
Houston is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Utah
Houston is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games when playing at home against Utah
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Houston's last 5 games when playing at home against Utah