NBA Preview: Houston Rockets vs Utah Jazz
Written By David Hess (Follow me on Twitter @DavidHess311)
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah
Lines: Utah -4.5
Total: 202
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The Houston Rockets come into this game off a 1116-100 rout of the Phoenix suns on the road, which broke a three game losing streak they were on. Houston is now back to .500 on the year at 28-28, but they ate just 12-15 on the road. Last year a .500 record would have you well out of the playoffs in the West, but Houston would have the 8th seed if the playoffs started today. Offense has not been a problem for the Rockets this year and they are led by the 2nd leading scorer in the league in James Harden, who averages 28 ppg. Overall Houston is 5th in the league in scoring, putting up 104.9 ppg, but they are not a good shooting team as they have hit just 44.4% of their shots, which is 19th. Defense is where the problems arise for this team as they rank 27th in the league in points allowed, giving up 106.7 ppg, while allowing teams to connect on 46.2% of their shots, which is 24th in the league.
The Utah Jazz come in having lost three of their last four games to fall to 27-28 on the year, but still they are just a half a game behind the Houston Rockets for 8th place in the West. Three of those last four losses have come on the road, while the win was at home where they have now won their last six games and are 18-10 on the year. This is a much better team, at home than on the road. The key to the Jazz this year has been their defense, which comes in ranked 4th in the league in points allowed, giving up just 96.8 ppg, but they have struggled a bit at that end of the floor of late, allowing 104.2 ppg (Regulation) in their last five games.Gordon Hayward 19.9 ppg) leads a balanced offense that has 7 players averaging at least 10.4 ppg, but after that it really drops off as no one else puts up more than 6.2 popg. Overall they are 26th in scoring at 98.1 ppg, while hitting just 44.7% of their shots, which is 17th. They have been a decent team from deep, hitting 35.6% from long range, which is 11th.
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Free NBA Play
[706] Utah -4.5 over Houston
I will go with the Jazz here as they have been an excellent home team of late, where they have won their last 6 games and have held their opponents to just 85.2 ppg over that stretch. Houston has lost 4 of their last 6 games on the road and they have allowed 113.3 ppg in those games. Huge defensive edge for the Jazz in this game, who also want revenge for an 11 point loss at Houston earlier in the year and who are a bit pissed after letting one get away in Portland the other night. The Rockets are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 3 or more days rest, while the Jazz are 9-4 ATS their last 13 home games, plus the host is 5-0 ATS the last five in the series. Look for the Jazz to take over the 8th spot in the West after this one is over.
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