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NBA Pick: 505 Utah Jazz @ 506 Charlotte Hornets
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Utah Jazz (+4) (Play up to +3)
Odds: -110 / 1.91 on Pinnacle Sports OR -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes OR -111 / 1.90 on Matchbook
Charlotte is coming from an easy win on the road last night at Philadelphia. The Sixers decided to close the paint in the start of the game and let the Hornets shoot from the outside, which they did successfully with 7-12 3pts in the first half. Then, Philadelphia played their usual defense in the second half and while they made the Hornets' outside shooting struggle, Al Jefferson had an easy match up and took advantage of that with 7-14 FG!
A few weeks ago, Utah would have been a good match up for Charlotte, as the Jazz's rim defense used to be terrible. However, with Gobert gaining more minutes on court, the Jazz are now defending much better near the basket by allowing just 9-17 FG and 13-26 FG at the rim on their last two games. Therefore, I expect Utah to handle Jefferson well and this is immediately something that will make Charlotte struggle big time, as the Hornets' perimeter shooting isn't normally good. On the other hand, Utah has been playing well on offense lately thanks to their good frontcourt and Hayward being able in very good form. I don't see why Utah being the inferior team in here and so, I'll take the Jazz in here.