Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets
Wednesday, 10/27/10, 9:00 PM EST
Opening Point Spread: Denver -3.5
Current Betting Line: Denver -3.5
Opening Total: 205
Current Total: 205
Utah kicks off its 2010-11 regular season on the road and takes on the Denver Nuggets in a big Western Conference matchup. The Jazz hold a 95-65 all-time series lead against the Nuggets, but are 30-49 in Denver. Head coach Jerry Sloan knows that tonight’s success is going to be dependent on how his team handles Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony. “We haven’t handled him, to make a long story short,” said Sloan. “I don’t know if you ever handle great players. They have so many different ways to beat you.” Anthony managed to average a career-playoff high 30.7 points in the first round against Utah, but the Jazz managed to upset the Nuggets in pulling out a 4-2 series victory. The squad finished last year on a 4-1 ATS run versus the Northwest Division. The Nuggets are currently listed on the NBA odds as a 3.5 point home favorite.
The Jazz are 17-19 all-time in season openers, but have won six of their last seven such games, falling to Denver 114-105 last year while topping the Nuggets 98-94 in 2008-09. Utah is 2-11 all-time when opening the season on the road. Confidence should be sky-high for this squad to start the season due to finishing the preseason with a perfect 8-0 record, the first time the team has gone undefeated in the preseason in the franchise’s 35-year history. In 2009-10, the Jazz went 53-29, finishing with at least a .500 record for the 26th time in 27 years. Utah said goodbye to forward Carlos Boozer and welcomed Al Jefferson via trade from Minnesota on July 13. He has averaged a double-double in four of his last five seasons.
Denver opens up the regular season against the Jazz for the second consecutive season and may be playing its final opener with Anthony on the roster. He made an offseason decision not to sign a $65 million extension that was available to him since June and the team began looking for a potential trade. “My job any time I talk to Melo or talk to his people is to try to convince him that we won 55 games last year and we’re capable of being a lot better,” said head coach George Carl. The Nuggets will be opening the season at home for just the fifth time since the Pepsi Center opened in 1999, with the club surprisingly just 6-9 in its past 15 home openers, including a 2-3 mark under Karl. The team finished 1-4 ATS in its final five regular season games last year.
The Nuggets finished the 2010 preseason with a 5-3 record and has managed to produce a 44-19 mark in the exhibition season since 2003. Denver ranked second in the NBA in scoring during the preseason with an average of 109.6 points per game. Karl has returned from his bout with throat and neck cancer, as the team finished with a 13-12 record under assistant Adrian Dantley to close the regular season and he also coached them in a first-round loss to tonight’s opponent in the playoffs. During the 2009-10 regular season, Denver ranked in the top 10 in points (third), scoring efficiency (fifth) and each of the three shooting categories: FG (10th), 3FG (10th) and FT (9th).
Bettors will take a look at playing the Jazz due to their 10-4 ATS mark as an underdog of 0.5 to 4.5 points, while the Nuggets are 5-1 ATS in their last six games as a home favorite of 0.5 to 4.5 points.
You should now that Maddux Sports came out of the gate firing a 3-0 mark on day 1 of the season. We are expecting some more great plays today as it is a big card offering a lot of value. Visit the NBA predictions page to get signed up for our premium plays.
