NBA: Utah at Phoenix (10:30 PM ET, TNT)

As two of the Western Conference’s best home teams, it’s safe to say the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns will be going all out to try to lock up home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Three head-to-head meetings over the final six weeks m

2010-03-05

As two of the Western Conference’s best home teams, it’s safe to say the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns will be going all out to try to lock up home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Three head-to-head meetings over the final six weeks might determine if either one can secure it. The Suns look for an eighth win in nine games overall and a sixth straight victory at US Airways Center on Thursday night when they host the Jazz in a potential first-round playoff preview. Phoenix is a slight 1.5-point favorite at Sportsbook.com and getting the lion’s share of support from bettors.

Phoenix (39-24, 36-26-1 ATS) went nearly two months (Dec. 1-Jan. 26) without winning three in a row after three separate four-game winning streaks during the first month of the season, but has gotten back on track of late.

One game out of a playoff spot on Jan. 27, the Suns have since gone 13-3 to pull into the West’s No. 5 slot - one-half game behind Utah (38-22, 36-21-3 ATS). They’ve won seven of eight (8-0 ATS) and have limited opponents to 92.0 points per game - 11.2 below their season average - while winning five straight at home. Phoenix has the fifth best record against the spread in the NBA and is 9-1 ATS playing against a team with win percentage of 60-70% this season.

Don’t think the Suns have suddenly turned into the Pat Riley coached Knicks of the 1990’s, with strictly defensive focus; they still lead the league in points scored at 109.4 points per game. The scorching Suns are heating up the opposition on a current 14-2 spread run.

While the Suns embarrassed the Clippers on their home floor, Utah was unable to do the same Monday. The Jazz fell behind Los Angeles by 17 points in the fourth quarter. They mounted a late rally, but came up short and lost 108-104.

Utah fell to 6-10 in games decided by five points or fewer (6-9-1 ATS), with three of those defeats coming in Jerry Sloan’s club’s last five games. “You’re going to have 10 or 15 games that you look back on after the season and say maybe you should have won those,” Sloan said. “But the other teams have those games as well, so you can’t worry about those games once they’re over. I automatically forget - because I can’t remember.” It is however worth remembering the Jazz are 11-2 ATS off a road loss this season.

Deron Williams has been in a shooting slump, but he’s not having trouble finding his teammates. Williams has had 10 consecutive double-digit assist games overall, and six in a row against Phoenix. Utah arrives in downtown Phoenix 15-5 ATS after a game where they failed to cover the spread this campaign.

Sportsbook.com has Utah as 1.5-point underdog with total of 213 and they are 10-2 ATS when the line is +3 to -3 this season. The Suns low number appears off a bit since they have the fourth best spread mark of 17-12-1 on their home floor, however, that is essentially negated with the Jazz 16-11-1 ATS. The Suns are brimming with confidence and are 11-2 ATS versus offensive teams scoring 99 or more points a game in the second portion of the schedule.

These teams meet again in Phoenix on March 19 before closing the regular season in Salt Lake City on April 14. Tonight’s tilt is on TNT starting around 10:35 Eastern and the Suns are 11-0 OVER off a win by 10 points or more over a division rival over the last two seasons. The StatFox Power Line shows Phoenix by 3

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