The Utah Jazz, which play four of their next five games on the road, are in Indianapolis today for a showdown with the 16-7 Pacers. Tonight’s East versus West battle is scheduled for a 7:00pm ET tip at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. NBA Odds have Indiana listed as a -9 against the spread home favorite; this evening’s game total is set at 193 points.
The Jazz have been a dominant team at home this season, winning 11 of their 15 games at the EnergySolutions Arena, but their play on the road has left something to be desired. Utah, a loser in three of its last four games, has dropped three straight road games, the latest of which came last night in New York.
The Jazz fell 88-99 to the short-handed Knicks at Madison Square Garden after turning the ball over 20 times and hitting just two of its 11 shots from beyond the arc. Only three Utah players scored in double figures (Al Jefferson, Gordon Hayward, Raja Bell) and only Paul Milsap manage to record more than four rebounds (13).
Utah’s defense also fell short as point guard Jeremy Lin dropped in a career high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Lin’s effort was a huge boost for the Knicks, which were playing without Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony (left the game with a leg injury after just six minutes of action).
Utah could be in for more struggles this evening against the defensive minded Pacers. Indiana, which trails the Bulls by three games in the Central Division, is giving up just 90.7 points per game on the season and it comes into tonight’s game off a rare loss.
The Pacers (6-2 at home), who have avoided back-to-back losses this year, got knocked off 81-85 at home by Orlando on Saturday night. The setback, which featured 19 points and seven rebounds from Danny Granger, snapped a four game win streak for Indiana. The Pacers shot an abysmal 34.1 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from three point range in the loss.
Indiana should correct those numbers against the Jazz, a team not known for its defensive prowess (96.9 points per game allowed). The Pacers are also 10-0 straight up and 6-3-1 against the spread in their last 10 games as a home favorite with a spread between 8 and 10.5 points.
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Utah Jazz vs Indiana Pacers 2012 NBA Odds: Provided by Bovada.lv
Utah Jazz +9 (-110), Over 193 (-115)
Indiana Pacers -9 (-110), Under 193 (-105)
