Sweeping The Homestand
The surging Utah Jazz look to complete a sweep of a four-game homestand Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, a team they haven’t lost to at Salt Lake City in more than six years.
The Jazz (21-17) have won their last five home meetings with the Bucks (15-22), dating to a 119-112 overtime defeat on Oct. 30, 2001. Since then, they’ve won eight of 10 overall matchups, including five in a row.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Utah –9.5 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 211.5 total points (Matchup). Our public betting information shows that 79% of bets for this game have been placed on Utah –9.5 (View NBA Bet Percentages).
Utah is 15-3 at EnergySolutions Arena while beating opponents by an average of 16.8 points. The Jazz will lean on that home-court advantage as they try to win four in a row overall for the first time since a season-high five-game run from Nov. 7-14.
Mehmet Okur scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Saturday’s 119-115 victory over Orlando. That followed a 22-point, season-high 17-rebound effort in Thursday’s 108-86 rout of Phoenix.
Okur, averaging 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds, appears to have recovered from a strained left shoulder that caused him to miss seven games in December, a stretch during which the Jazz won only twice. Since returning, he’s scoring 14.2 points per game with 6.6 boards.
"The last two games he has played great. That was the Memo of last season and that’s the Memo we are hoping to have the rest of this season," said Carlos Boozer, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds against the Magic. "Maybe he’s got his confidence back a little bit more and obviously his touch has returned."
Boozer, the Jazz’s leader with a career-high 23.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, has totaled 62 points and 23 boards in his last two games against Milwaukee.
The Bucks are 5-17 on the road and looking to salvage one victory on their three-game Western Conference trip. They opened the trip with a 110-105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday before falling 122-114 to the Suns the following night.
Michael Redd, Milwaukee’s top scorer with 23.2 points per game, appears to be healthy after missing five games with a bruised left thigh. He scored 18 points Saturday after recording 22 off the bench against the Lakers in his first action since suffering the injury Jan. 2.
Redd totaled 75 points in two meetings – both defeats – against Utah in 2006-07, including a career-high 57-point performance during a 113-111 loss on Nov. 11, 2006.
Center Andrew Bogut, averaging 12.7 points and a team-leading 8.9 rebounds, has stepped up his game of late, with 17.3 points and 9.9 boards per game over the last seven contests. He made 14 of 16 shots – all near the basket – for a career-high 29 points with 11 rebounds Saturday.
Bogut, who will likely find himself matched up with Okur, has struggled in four career games against the Jazz, averaging 6.3 points and 6.5 rebounds.
By: Marc Young – theSpread.com – Email Us
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