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Utah Jazz Odds to Win the 2008 NBA Finals
The Utah Jazz made it to the Western
Conference Finals in 2007, before losing to eventual
champion San Antonio, and they look to be an even more
dominant force in 2008 with the best home record in the
league. Does Utah have what it takes to get back to the
NBA Finals and even win it all this time around? Jimmy
Boyd takes a look at the 2008 Utah Jazz odds to win
the NBA Finals and discusses their chances.
Bet the Utah Jazz at 10/1 odds to win the NBA
Finals at Bodoglife.com
Why they'll win it all:
The Utah Jazz are a great sleeper pick to win
the NBA Finals this season as they were right on
the brink of advancing to the Finals a year ago.
Utah is flat out dominant at home with a 37-4
record this season. That in itself gives the
Jazz an excellent chance as no team will be
favored over Utah while playing in Salt Lake
City this postseason. Utah is a very versatile
team which can play uptempo and slow down ball,
and they have one of the best point guards in
the league in Deron Williams to control that
tempo. While Chris Paul has been getting all the
attention this season, Williams has owned him in
head to head action. Carlos Boozer was
sensational in the playoffs last season and he
gives the Jazz an inside presence which teams
must double team. Mehmet Okur always poses
matchup problems with his ability to step away
from the basket to shoot the three at 7-feet
tall, and Andrei Kirilenko is one of the best
defensive players in basketball. He is also in a
much better state of mind than he was entering
last season's playoffs. Matt Harpring has always
been a great sixth man for this team, but their
trade to bring in sharp shooter Kyle Korver has
been the X-factor. He has helped make Utah the
eighth best three-point shooting team in the
NBA. Utah is solid through and through and is a
team which never lacks effort.
Why they won't:
While Utah has been the most unstoppable team in
the NBA on its home floor, it is a lackluster
17-23 on the road. The Jazz will not have home
court advantage throughout the postseason so
they could go down again in the Western
Conference Finals in a close series. Despite
what one would expect, the Jazz are not a good
rebounding team. They rank just 26th in the
league in defensive rebounding and 13th on the
offensive glass. In the games that Utah has
dropped this season, it has been dominated on
the boards, and that stands to be one of its
most glaring weaknesses. The Jazz are also very
streaky, meaning that they will have flawless
spurts throughout a game, but they will also
fall into costly droughts. It will be up to
Deron Williams to orchestrate the offense to
keep them away from those lengthy cold spells,
but I'm not sure if he has the maturity yet to
do so.Take a look at our
Lakers Jazz
Series Predictions.
Other odds to Win the 2008
NBA Finals:
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