The NBA playoffs Western Conference semifinals game 2 between Utah Jazz vs LA Lakers tips off tonight at 10:30 PM ET with the Lakers up 1-0 in the series. In game 1 NBA MVP Kobe Bryant went crazy dropping 38 points on the Jazz en route to a 109-98 victory as -8 point chalk. SBGglobal.com has the LA Lakers as -7.5 point NBA betting favorites in the Utah Jazz vs LA Lakers game.
The Jazz (58-31 SU) put up 22 more shots than the Lakers (62-25 SU) thanks to their superior rebounding but shot a terrible 37.9% from the field. Despite their first round hiccup the Jazz are a better team than the one that took the court in game 1 and their physical team can turn things around with some improved shooting. The Jazz (49-40 ATS) averaged 105.1 PPG this year and forward Carlos 
Boozer can be a force when he is on his game. Despite Boozer’s skills the Jazz do not have the firepower that the profitable Lakers (52-33-1 ATS) possess. The OVER\UNDER is 209.5 points for bettors looking for alternative NBA picks.
Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had this to say about the superman Kobe Bryant: "I don't think anybody has been able to guard Kobe," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "He's just a great player. He can shoot the ball long range, he can shoot the 3-pointers way out past the 3-point line, he can put the ball on the floor. You come running at him and he catches you by surprise. It's hard to go double-team him and keep him from doing everything he wants to do. He has the ability to maybe go for a quarter or so and just try and stay involved, then all of a sudden from a scoring standpoint he can put 20 points on you real quick."
Game one was an impressive performance for the Lakers without question but they did have some added rest over the weary Jazz who played after a quick turnaround. Now that the playing field is level with both teams on 2 days rest let’s see if the result will be the same. A lot of this game depends on how the referee’s call this game with the physical Utah defense drawing a killer 46 foul shots. Utah dominated the boards however against the Lakers with a 59-41 advantage and I think that the absence of Lakers center Andrew Bynum will catch up to Los Angeles in Game 2.
