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Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Lakers
The Utah Jazz are hoping home court really is an advantage. Right now, they'll take any edge they can get.The Los Angeles Lakers lead the Jazz 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals and are coming to Utah with thoughts of a second straight sweep in the playoffs.The Jazz had hoped to come out of Los Angeles with a split, but were back home Thursday trying to figure out new ways to slow down league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Lakers while reviving their own sporadic offense.
The Lakers have shut down Utah's attempts to get the pick-and-roll rolling and forced the Jazz into taking outside shots, which have not been falling. Utah has also rushed some attempts that led to either turnovers or missed shots that bounced right to the Lakers.The offensive blunders have created easy baskets for Los Angeles, which pulled away to big leads and held off Utah's pushes at the end of both games. "We've got to stay disciplined. We've got to work harder to get open," point guard Deron Williams said. "They're trying to deny us and push us farther out than we want to, so we're starting our offense from farther out and it's disrupting us a little bit. "Utah hosts Game 3 on Friday night and hopes playing at home can get the Jazz back in the series. Utah went 37-4 at home during the regular season, but the Lakers were one of the four winners, ending the Jazz's 19-game home winning streak in March.Utah coach Jerry Sloan said playing at home wouldn't do much good if the Jazz don't get back to running their offense. "They're going to defend us. They're not going to drop off and say, 'OK, we're not going to defend you because we're not in L.A.' That's what made them very good. They're a very good defensive team," Sloan said. "They have a tendency to slow us down and we start walking through what we're doing." Lakers coach Phil Jackson said earlier this week that EnergySolutions Arena is one of the loudest places to play in the league and that the noise energizes the Jazz and intimidates the officials.He coyly said Thursday before the team left for Utah that he had "amnesia" about the officials comment, but was still expecting a more intense version of the Jazz in Utah. "They're scrumming around. That's much more decisive on their court," Jackson said.The Lakers have kept All-Star forward Carlos Boozer out of the series so far. Boozer was in foul trouble early in Los Angeles' 120-110 win on Wednesday and finished with just 10 points and five rebounds. He averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season. AnalysisAs for game outcome I can't see really good bet here. At least I can't advantage over the line to put money on handicap or over/under. Lakers showed that their game plan is much better than Utah Jazz and so far Utah did't show any signs of ability to win with confidence against Lakers. Also Kobe's sporting form is very impressive and it's hard to tell if Utah will find a way to defend against Lakers at home arena. Lakers have 7-1 ATS in last 8 games between teams and this shows how bad things are for Utah Jazz backers. The only hope for Jazz is their offense. According to some quotes J.Sloan see his team chances and better offense but from point of view this better offense is something around 108-115 points so if Utah want to win game they must defend under 108 points. This what I expect from today's game but I will skip this game because line looks a bit risky to bet. The only pick I can advice for this match is from Bwin special offers. How many points will Carlos Boozer (Uth) score? Bwin has 18.5 pts which is not big number for this man. Boozer is just 9-for-24 in the series, stuck outside the lane and missing the mid-range jump shots that went in during the regular season. At home he should feel his self much more confident and I expect him to make at least 20 points today. But this is only small punt because such picks are not my favorite ones. Prediction: Utah Jazz 111 vs 104 L.A. Lakers Pick: C.Boozer over 18.5 @ 1.65 Bwin.com New articles on this topic:
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