Both the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers will be playing extra basketball in the Western Conference, it’s just a matter of at what seed. They meet for the final time this season Tuesday from LA. Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Tuesday, March 29, 2022 – 10:00 PM EDT at Crypto.com Arena
This matchup is the second game of a TNT doubleheader on Tuesday with the Los Angeles Lakers (likely without LeBron James) visiting the Dallas Mavericks in the first game.
You would have to say this game matters more for Utah, which still has a shot to finish as high as third in the West and have home-court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs.
Join Now: $1,000 BMR 12-Week All Sports Challenge
The Jazz is currently sitting as the No. 5 seed. The Clippers are going to be in the play-in tournament and almost surely as the No. 8 seed as they are 6.5 games behind Minnesota for the No. 7 and four games up on New Orleans for the No. 9.
Utah is 2-0 vs. the Clippers this season, winning both easily but also both at home. Donovan Mitchell played in one of the two and had 27 points.
Rudy Gobert averaged 19.5 points and 16.5 rebounds in the two. Marcus Morris Sr. is averaging 14.5 in the two for L.A. and Reggie Jackson 11.0 points.
More on those two below. Los Angeles is 4-1 against the spread on the NBA picks in the past five meetings.
Will Gobert Play Tuesday?
Will Jazz center Rudy Gobert win his fourth career NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award? That would tie a record for most such awards with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace – Gobert is better than those two guys.
“The Stifle Tower” is +300 at BMR’s top-rated books to win again, behind Miami’s Bam Adebayo (+175) and Boston’s Marcus Smart (+275).
Gobert leads the NBA in rebounding at 14.6 ppg and is third at 2.1 blocks per. He also leads the league in shooting an absurd 71.2 percent from the field, although that won’t help his defensive cause.
Still, a crazy number, although many of Gobert’s shots are dunked/putbacks. His 203 dunks lead the NBA by a mile.
Read More: Best NBA Player Props to Consider for March 29
The Frenchman is on pace to become the only player in NBA history to average 15 points (15.3 ppg) and 14 rebounds while also shooting better than 70 percent from the field.
Gobert didn’t play in Sunday’s 114-100 loss in Dallas, Utah’s fourth straight defeat. He’s not seriously hurt (leg contusion), but the Jazz may prefer to hold him out to ensure health for the postseason, and is officially questionable.
Gobert’s backup Hassan Whiteside missed a second straight game with a right foot sprain, Bojan Bogdanovic was out for the ninth time in 10 games as he battles a right calf strain, and leading scorer Donovan Mitchell left briefly after a Mavericks player landed in his leg.
Bogdanovic is questionable tonight but Mitchell is not listed on the injury report "He said it wasn't that bad. … If he came out, he wouldn't have been able to come back in," Coach Quin Snyder said of Mitchell.
"At one point with certain players, there is a relationship where the coach has to trust the player. … I trusted him."
One bright spot Sunday was Trent Forrest having his best game since returning from a wrist injury that sidelined him for multiple weeks.
He finished with 10 points, four rebounds, and one assist. It may be that Whiteside won’t return for a bit as the team signed big man Greg Monroe to a 10-day contract Monday.
Utah has covered just four of its last 21 road games on the NBA odds.
Clippers Already Limiting Minutes
The Clippers already are looking ahead to the playoffs as Coach Tyronn Lue is limiting Reggie Jackson’s minutes to a cap of 32 per night, Marcus Morris Sr.'s to 25, and Nicolas Batum to 19.
As we noted above, the Clippers are basically locked into their play-in tournament seed so they may be a good team to fade the rest of the way.
L.A. appears on auto-pilot on a five-game losing streak, although the team has been off since a 122-97 home blowout to Philadelphia on Friday. Jackson, Morris, and Batum, all starters, combined for only 22 points in their limited time.
Amir Coffey led the Clips with 21 points and the team has converted Coffey's two-way contract to a full contract, allowing him to remain on the active roster for the play-in tournament and playoffs if L.A. gets there.
Will All-Star Paul George return tonight from his long injury absence? He actually has been upgraded to questionable, although even if he plays it surely will be limited minutes.
George went through a 5-on-5 practice both Sunday and Monday. This season, George is averaging 24.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists.
The Clippers are 4-1 against the spread in their past five at home. It’s pretty simple for them: Shoot a better percentage than their opponent and LA is 31-7, including 19-3 at home.
Obviously, it would be nice to know if Gobert and Bogdanovic will play for Utah. If they both do or even just Gobert does, for my best bets, I’d take Utah. If both are out, grab the Clippers as the Jazz has been terrible ATS on the road.
Score Prediction: Jazz 111, Clippers 107 (if at least Gobert plays for Utah)
NBA Pick: Jazz -1 (-110) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
