APR 27 - NBA Game 6 Free Picks For Los Angeles Vs Utah

NBA Game 6 Free Picks For Los Angeles Vs Utah

Written by on April 27, 2017

With Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers on the brink of elimination against the upstart Utah Jazz, only one question needs to be asked about Friday night’s Game 6 showdown. Can the perennially underachieving Clippers avoid having their season come to an abrupt halt? Let’s find out right now what’s going to go down when the Clippers hit the road to face Utah for Game 6. Find the updated NBA betting lines here.

In Depth Analysis On The NBA Game 6 Free Picks For Clippers Vs Jazz



When: Friday, April 28, 2017 at 10:00 PM ET Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah TV: ESPN Live Stream: Watch ESPN NBA Odds: Utah Jazz -5.5 / Total: 192.5

Why Bet The Los Angeles Clippers Odds at +1

The best reason to back the Clippers (53-34 SU, 41-45-1 ATS) in Game 6 is that they will be completely and utterly desperate to avoid elimination against the Jazz. Los Angeles got 28 points from Chris Paul, 26 from J.J. Redick and 14 from Jamal Crawford in Game 5, but they were the only Clippers to reach double figures as L.A. shot a tepid 42.0 percent from the field in their humbling 96-92 loss.

“It’s a tough loss, but it’s not like I’m going to bury my head or anything like that,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “We lost the game. You know, defensively overall I thought we played pretty well. Offensively, I didn’t think we played well at all. There were a lot of things that I did like about the game, and there were a lot of things I didn’t. I think they’re all fixable.”

Now, the Clippers literally have their back up against the wall. “We made our runs, we made spurts, but we didn’t make stops when we needed to,” said Paul, who scored 19 points in the second half. “It’s no secret our backs are against the wall down 3-2.” L.A. played without injured all-tar forward Blake Griffin after he suffered a season-ending foot injury in Game 5. The Clippers shot a solid 43.5 percent from three-point distance but were outrebounded 43-34 in the loss.

Why Bet The Utah Jazz Odds at -1

The best reasons to back Utah (54-33 SU, 40-43-4 ATS) in Game 6 is that the Jazz have been the better team through five game and have a fantastic opportunity to close out the Clippers to get their first playoff series win in over a decade. “We want to close it out in Salt Lake City,” Jazz all-star forward Gordon Hayward said. “We definitely don’t want to come here for Game 7.”

Hayward scored a team-high 27 points in Game 5 while Rodney Hood (16), Joe Johnon (14), George Hill (12) and Boris Diaw (10) all reached double figures in scoring. Center Rudy Gobert had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. “We just tried to come out with toughness and attitude,” Gobert said. “We really wanted to win this game, and we did.”

The Jazz are looking to close out the Clippers, but they also say they’re not getting ahead of themselves. “You can’t get too high on the highs,” said Hayward. “We won Game 1. Can’t get too low on the lows, lost the next two. For us, we have to treat (Game 6) like a must-win.” Joe Johnson was clutch for the Jazz down the stretch – again – as he scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half.

Expert Pick & Final Score Prediction

While I’m not real fond of the 5.5-point spread and believe the Los Angeles Clippers are going to put up a real fight as they try to avoid elimination, I am going to advise you to go against the 53 percent of public bettors that like Chris Paul and company to cover the spread. Right now, with Blake Griffin out, the Clippers simply don’t have enough offensive firepower to overcome a Utah team that led the league in points allowed this season (96.9 ppg) and has a ton of confidence heading into Game 6.

Combine all of that with the fact that the Clippers continually underachieve at the worst moment possible and it’s easy to see why the Jazz are my pick to get the outright win and narrow ATS cover. The Clippers are just 1-4 ATS in their last five conference quarterfinal games and an identical 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.

Conversely, Utah has gone 6-1 ATS in their last seven games against team from the Pacific division, 3-0-1 ATS in their last four games following an SU win and 5-1-1 AT in their last seven games overall. In the end, I like the Utah Jazz to win and advance while narrowly covering the spread.

My final score prediction is Utah 101 Clippers 94