Can Utah Slow Down the Kobe Express – Lakers at Jazz

NBA:  Los Angeles Lakers vs Utah Jazz

Game-day:  2/11/2009

Tip-off:  9:00 pm est.

The hot Los Angeles Lakers travel to Utah to take on the Jazz on Wednesday night.  L.A. has been on a serious roll lately winning 7 games in a row straight-up and going 6 and 1 against the spread in those 7 games.  Their overall record ATS is 27 and 24.  Their record against the sports betting line in away games is 14 and 9.

Utah hasn’t put it together yet because their best big man, Carlos Boozer, is still on the bench.  Boozer should be back in a couple of weeks.  In the mean time, the Jazz has struggled to a 29 and 23 straight-up record and a 26 and 26 record against the spread.  At home the Jazz has gone 15 and 11 ATS.

Here is the betting lines for this game.

Los Angeles Lakers: -2 ½ -110 O 215 ½ -110

Utah Jazz: +2 ½ -110 U 215 ½ -110

Here are a few online wagering trends for this game.

The Los Angeles Lakers are 9-3-1 against the spread in the last 13 meetings between these two teams.

The Los Angeles Lakers are 19 and 7 against the spread after playing on 0 days of rest.

The Utah Jazz is 7 and 3 against the spread in their last 10 games versus a team from the Pacific Division.

The Utah Jazz is 1 and 5 against the spread in their last 6 games versus a team with a winning percentage of .600 or above.

Whether it’s good old-fashioned bonding or just the Kobester’s leadership, L.A. has gotten better since Andrew Bynum went down with an injury.  It could be that the BetOnline odds makers have begun to shift the amount of points the Lakers have to give up now that Bynum is on the bench.

Whatever it is, the Lakers are hot.  Can Utah cool them down?

The Jazz have an advantage in this game.  His name is Deron Williams.  Williams had a terrific game in his last with 31 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.  He will have to duplicate that against the Lakers for the Jazz to have any shot.

Another key for the Jazz will be slowing the game down and going to the classic pick and roll.  In Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap, Deron Williams does have a couple of fellas that he can set up on the pick and roll.  The lack of Bynum in the middle means that both Okur and Millsap should have a pretty good night.

But the Jazz have no answer for Kobe.  Kobe might be the deciding factor, like he is in most games, on Wednesday night.

I’m going to have to hope that Kobe doesn’t have one of those incredible games.  Kobe and the Lakers have been on fire lately, but I do believe that Utah has enough to be very, very close.

I’m going to make an online bet on the Utah Jazz to beat the +2 ½ point spread.