Boston Celtics vs Utah Jazz 11/9/18 NBA Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Boston Celtics play the second of a back to back against the Utah Jazz at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake, Utah.

A Comeback Win

Boston needed to come back  from 22 points down plus an overtime period to put away the stubborn Phoenix Suns 116-109. The win was only Boston’s 7th in their first 11 games of the season. Before the season began, the Celtics were installed as favorites to win the Eastern Conference this season. Now the Celtics travel from Phoenix to Utah to face the Jazz in Salt Lake City.

Kyrie Irving leads Boton with 19.2 points and 5.3 assists per game. Sophomore Jayson Tatum is also contributing 14.6  points per game for the men in green. Gordon Hayward, who used to star here in Salt Lake City, is struggling in his first season back from injury, Haward is contributing 9.9 points per game while struggling to shoot from the floor at just 40%.

 

Back on Track

The Utah Jazz are back on track after a 117-102 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Prior to that, Utah lost four consecutive games for the first time this season. Like the Celtics, the Jazz were touted to be among the top contenders in their division but so far, things have not looked great for the Jazz.

Who Wins?

Boston leads the all-time series between these teams at 57-39. The Celtics have taken seven out of their last 10 meetings including four out of the last five. Last season, the season series between these two teams was tied at one game apiece. Utah won by 7 points at the TD Garden while the Celtics beat the Jazz by three points in Utah.

You bet the Celtics want to win this game for Gordon Hayward who has gone through so much since transferring to Boston. But remember that the Celtics are playing the second of a back to back. Last night, Boston had to come back from a 22 point deficit to force overtime and then beat the Phoenix Suns in overtime.

That game could go both ways as one, the Celtics must feel good about themselves rallying from 22 points down to win the game and two, They could be dead tired right now after playing in Phoenix last night. This game could go either way really but in case of doubt, I will back the home team here. We’re picking the Utah Jazz to beat the dead tired Boston Celtics on 11/9/18.

 

Other Bets To Make

 

The Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last five games and 2-9 ATS in their last eleven road games. The Jazz are also 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games played and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 home games. Head to head, the Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against the Jazz and are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games played in Utah.

 

This has been a relatively close series as in their last 10 games against each other, the average score is 99.1 to 98.6 points in favor of the Boston Celtics. The Jazz are contenders when healthy and with Donovan Mitchell back on the court after missing two games,  Utah is going to be a tough matchup for the tired Celtics. All of Utah’s four wins this season have been by double digits. With their former top scorer on the other side now, look for the Jazz to come up with a decisive win. Prediction: Jazz -4

 

The total has gone over in 4 out of the last 5 games for the Celtics but under in 4 out of their last 6 games on the road. The total has gone over in 6 out of the last 7 games for the Jazz and also over in 4 out of their last 5 games at home. Head to head, the over is 4-2 when Utah plays Boston and the over is 6-2 in the last 8 games between these teams in Utah.

 
The Jazz are in the middle of the pack at #15 in scoring average at 110.5 points per game while the Celtics are 25th ( among 30 teams) in team scoring at 105.3 points per game. Defensively, Boston’s scoring defense ranks 3rd in points allowed at only 102.0 points per game. Utah is 12th in that department with their 109.5 points given up per outing. The trends point to the over but I think defense sets the tone in this game. These are two elite defenses going at each other. Prediction: Under 207.5