Basketball Betting – Jazz Stun Lakers at Home. There was a huge shocker in basketball betting on Tuesday night as the Los Angles Lakers lost at home to the Utah Jazz. The Jazz almost never win in Los Angeles but they pulled out an 86-85 win. The Lakers were 13.5 point favorites in NBA basketball betting at Sbg global but they overlooked the Jazz and ended up with a loss.
Hayward Scores 22 Points
The Jazz got a career-high 22 points out of Gordon Hayward on Tuesday. Hayward is in his rookie season and you may remember him as he played for Butler last season. The former Butler star hit the game winning free throw for the Jazz who broke their eight-game losing streak. Hayward was 9 for 14 with two 3-pointers, six rebounds and five assists. Hayward has been coming off the bench for the Jazz but the way he played on Tuesday might earn him more playing time. The Lakers Kobe Bryant had nothing but good things to say about the rookie.
Lakers Sleepwalk to a Loss
The Lakers played so badly on Tuesday night that they gave away a sure win. The Lakers almost never lose to the Jazz at home. They had not lost at the Staples Center to the Jazz since 2006. That was a stretch of 17 games in the regular season and in the playoffs. Kobe Bryant scored 20 points and actually hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 16 seconds left but after Hayward hit one of two free throws, Kobe turned the ball over on the last possession. Lamar Odom said Tuesday’s performance was the worst the Lakers have played all season. That should tell you how bad Utah is as the Lakers still had a chance to win at the end. The Lakers got 19 points from Pau Gasol and a career-high 23 rebounds from Andrew Bynum. The Lakers were so bad though in the NBA basketball betting loss that they turned it over 19 times and missed their first 13 3-point attempts.
Last Five Games
The Lakers are probably going to finish as the #2 seed in the Western Conference. The Lakers do host the Spurs next week in basketball betting but by that time San Antonio should have wrapped up the top seed. The Lakers final five games are at Golden State, at Portland, home vs. Oklahoma City, home vs. the Spurs and at Sacramento.