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NBA Playoff Picks – Utah Jazz Look To Even Series Against Nuggets

Monday, April 19, 2010

by BetUS.com

Denver Nuggets Betting Lines

Everything I predicted about the Utah Jazz went down the crapper once Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko both injured themselves. The torn Achilles on Okur’s part is a heart breaking injury, especially since the big man is one of the more underappreciated talents in the NBA. Both Kirilenko and Okur were vital to withstanding the offense of the Denver Nuggets, and without them I’m sadly concerned that the Jazz won’t have enough to stop Carmelo Anthony again.

After dropping 42-points in Game 1, and leading the Nuggets to a 126-113 win that thrashed the NBA spread of -6.0 in the home team’s favor, Carmelo Anthony has definitely put the Jazz on notice. The slow process of Anthony’s maturation in to a legitimate superstar is beginning to unfold, and without Andrei Kirilenko on the court to slow him down, Melo is taking his game to a whole other level. No offense to C.J. Miles, but there’s a reason that you’re not a household name.

I outlined that J.R. Smith was one of the guys to watch coming off the bench for the Denver Nuggets, because his ability to drain open shots in the fourth quarter was absolutely pivotal for Denver’s success. Shooting 43 percent from the field, and 40 percent from long range, Smith drained 20 points in just 27 minutes. Think of J.R. as the 2008 version of Eddie House, but with way more potential.

Utah Jazz (53-29) vs. Denver Nuggets (53-29)
Monday, April 19th --- Pepsi Center --- 10:30pm EST
NBA Betting Line: Denver -6.5 (212.5)

Of course, while it’s easy to point at this game and say that Jerry Sloan will solve the riddle of Anthony without his star Russian utility player, there are also those of you that will automatically point to the zig-zag betting theory for this game. It’s sad to say this, not because I’m touting the Utah Jazz as an NBA betting upset specialist, but the Denver Nuggets have much more solidarity and talent than we expected.

Actually, let me rephrase that because we’ve always known that this team is uber talented. What they’re showing in this (and last) year’s playoffs is an innate ability to maximize their team’s potential in a pressure cooker. Call it the Billups Ripple Effect or whatever you want to, but this team has some scary outside shooting, insane hustlers on the boards (K-Mart had 12 rebounds) and a point-guard who knows how to get he most out of his team. With Lawson and Billups at the tip of the spear, there’s no way you can bet against Denver in this game.

Until Utah’s Carlos Boozer wants to boost his free-agency stock by taking over a game, which he’s hardly ever done in his career, my NBA pick is with the denver Nuggets for Game 2.

BetUS Sportsbook Furious NBA Free Pick – Denver -6.5 (OVER)

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denver nuggets - nba betting - nba spread - utah jazz

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