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The LA Clippers will host the UTA Jazz after shockingly losing Game 1 at home (95-97 via a Johnson buzzer beater), against a team which lost its (arguably) best player, Rudy Gobert, in the first 20 seconds of the match.
The Clippers (reg. season: 51-31, 29-12 home) have ended the regular season on a roll with 7 consecutive wins and snatched the 4th seed from Utah, but that didn`t matter much in Game 1 of the playoffs. Clippers looked bad for most of the game, unable to hit their shots and giving Utah a lot of looks at the other end, despite the fact that Gobert got injured early for the Jazz.
Utah (reg. season: 51-31, 22-19 away) was expected to be down and out when Gobert twisted his knee less than 20 seconds into the match, but the Jazz responded brilliantly and had a very good all around game to shock the Clippers in LA. Utah played well all season and was in good form coming into the playoffs, having a real shot at upsetting LA, but to do it without Gobert was definitely impressive and morale boosting.
Bet on Clippers vs Jazz and claim your 100% (100 Eur) bonus at Ohmbet.com now!Team news: Clippers will be again without backup PG Rivers, while UTA will miss Rudy Gobert, but there`s a chance they could get backup PG Raul Neto back (though it`s rather unlikely).
Utah did brilliantly in Game 1 without Gobert and they were in control for most of the second half of that game, deserving their victory. Nevertheless, a lot of things went right for the Jazz to win it. They got amazing performances from 36 year old veteran Joe Johnson (9-14 shooting, 21 pts) or from their hurt backup center, Favors (7-10, 15 points), among others. They hit all kinds of tough shots and buzzer beaters, while the Clippers had a poor shooting night from three (8-24).
You would expect the likes of Johnson, Favors or Hill to decrease their performance, as they aren`t exactly guys who can give you great offense consistently. Credit to Utah as they are a good team with a lot of fight in them, but they wouldn`t be a playoff team without Gobert.
At the same time, the Clippers will be desperate to bounce back and they should have a better shooting night, especially as they were in great form before the Game 1 loss – so that momentum can`t be all lost. Also, they do match up well against the Jazz, winning 5 of the last 7 meetings (and 3 of 4 in the regular season this year).
I believe LA will regroup for this game and come out with the proper gameplan to exploit Gobert’s absence. They do not have a very good coach in the overrated Doc Rivers and he was unable to find in-game answers Game 1, but even he should have found the solution in the two days between games.
Despite losing, the Clippers still outrebounded Utah 40-36 and that is huge against a team that relies so heavily on rebounding (particularly offensive rebounds) to dominate. It`s a very good place to build from. Clips should have more rebounds and more possessions, so they should be fine here as long as there won`t be another discrepancy in shooting (and it shouldn`t be for the second game in a row).
The -8 point spread isn`t the lowest, but is not that high either. It was at -5 in Game 1, with Gobert in, and he is worth way more than 3 points for Utah. It`s worth noting that the line is going up.
I definitely don`t have high expectations in the playoff from the Clippers, but fact is the Jazz are not that good without Gobert and odds are influenced by the result in Game 1 – which Utah deserved to win, but it was still a fluke. I believe there`s some value in the handicap line, so my tip is the Clippers to cover the -8 point spread. Prediction: LA Clippers 108 – UTA Jazz 92.
Pick: Clippers -8
Odds: 1.91 @ Betsson
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 8.19
Event date: 19 April
