The 29-27 Boston Celtics will be on back to back when they face a rested 31-25 Utah Jazz in an NBA pro basketball game on Monday night. Tip off time from Utah is scheduled for 9PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBA TV.
The NBA odds from this game has the home team Utah Jazz favored by -6 ½ points with an over under line of 191 ½ points. There has been no line movement since the odds came out on this game a few hours ago.
The teams went head to head back on November 14th with Boston posting the 98-93 home win against the Jazz as a -5 point betting favorite. The game ended right at the closing line of 191 points.
Boston has a road record of 10-20 on the year. Boston loses for the third time in four games during this west coast trip in a 92-86 road defeat to the Portland Trailblazers on Sunday night as a +2 point underdog. The game ended under 192 points. The Celtics shot 42.4% from the field and had a bad night shooting threes making just 2 of 13. As usual Boston gets out rebounded by Portland by a 47-36 margin. They allowed the Trailblazers 44.3% shooting. Paul Pierce had 23 points and 8 assists on 9 of 16 shooting in the loss. In close games possessions are a premium and because of their lack of size down low the Celtics struggles on the glass. Boston is 29th and second to last in the NBA in rebounding.
The Jazz are 21-6 straight up on their home court. Their three game win streak was snapped in a 107-94 road loss on Saturday night to the LA Clippers as a +9 ½ point underdog. The game ended over 198 points. A close game was blown open in the third quarter as the Jazz get outscored 36-20 in defeat. They shot just 41.7% from the floor along with a horrendous 1 of 15 coming from three. Utah allowed the LA Clippers to hit on 51.3% of their shots and to pull down 7 more rebounds than the Jazz. Gordon Hayward came off the bench for 23 points in defeat. Defending has been an issue for the Jazz as they rank in the lower third in the NBA in two key areas which are defensive field goal and three point shooting. Teams hit on 45.9% from the field and 37.3% from beyond the arc against Utah.
