The Utah Jazz visits the Los Angeles Clippers as sports betting four-point underdogs, but the SLC team has a not-so-secret weapon in Ricky Rubio, whom the Jazz acquired from the T-Wolves in exchange for a 2018 first-round draft pick on June 30, 2017. Now, Rubio is no Gordon Hayward (for starters, like Terry Gilliam, he’s got two legs) and no one expected him to be, but neither did anybody expect Rubio to complement his 8.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds with a career-high 14.7 points per game.
- Date: Tuesday, 24th October
- Time: 10:35 PM
- Venue: Staples Center
- Sportsbook odds:
Jazz +4½ (-110) 199½ (-110) +160
Clippers -4½ (-110) 199½ (-110) -185
Rubio on Rubio
“It’s all about confidence,” the Spanish point guard said. “The end of last [season] helped me, and I had a good summer working out and a lot of that has carried over.” Australian small forward Joe Ingles has also helped fill the void left by Hayward, averaging 14.7 points (up from 7.1 last season) and shooting 12 of 19 from the three-point line in three games.
Watch @JoeIngles7 handle some job shadowing like only a 6’ 8” 230lb small forward can.
Passion #LIVESHERE – @VivintHome https://t.co/RmjD0P7SPL
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 23, 2017
In mixed-bag news, shooting guard Rodney Hood is questionable but his injury may not be as serious as originally thought. The Jazz is 3-0 ATS this season and 8-0 ATS in the last eight road games, but without Hood’s 13 points per game they may not be able to keep those streaks going. Additionally, Utah is 6-1-1 ATS in their last eight games after a win, and 6-2 ATS in their last eight overall, while the Clippers are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games following an ATS win, 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games after a win of more than 10 points, 1-4 ATS in their last five at home, and 2-5 against the sports betting spread in their last seven games playing a team with a winning record.
Clippers scoring at an impressive clip
The Clippers have been doing just fine without Chris Paul, beating the Lakers by 16 points and blowing out the Suns by 42, more than enough on both occasions to cover. Blake Griffin had a second straight 29-point performance on Saturday against Phoenix, while Patrick Beverley had 15 points and six steals. “I like how the ball’s moving, I like our pace,” head coach Glenn ‘Doc’ Rivers said. “A lot of guys are handling the ball, a lot of guys are contributing.” But perhaps what’s most impressive about the Clips is that they’ve nonetheless managed to keep the total from going over on both instances. The Los Angeles team leads the league in points allowed per game with 90.0, but the Jazz defense is nothing to sneeze at either; they are allowing 94.3 points per game (and sneezing at people is just plain rude); they even held Mr. Triple-Double himself Russell Westbrook to six points in Saturday’s 96-87 win over the Thunder. The sports betting total has gone under in eight of the Clippers’ last 10 games when they have had two days off between games.