Monday, February 22

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NBA

Atlanta (34-20, 33-21 ATS) at Utah (36-19, 34-18-3 ATS)

The red-hot Jazz will try to extend their winning streak to five when the Hawks conclude a four-game West Coast road trip with a stop at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

Atlanta comes in off a 108-104 loss to Golden State on Sunday, falling as a five-point road chalk. The Hawks, who blew a 15-point fourth-quarter lead last night, have now lost three of their last four games (SU and ATS) and two straight on this road trip. Atlanta is just 13-14 as a visitor this season but despite Sunday’s result, it has cashed in 15 of those 27 contests.

Utah made it four consecutive SU and ATS wins on Sunday with a come-from-behind 93-89 overtime victory in Portland, cashing as a 1½-point underdog. The Jazz trailed by 25 points in the third quarter but held the Blazers to 10 fourth-quarter points and tied it at the buzzer on a put-back shot from Carlos Boozer. Utah is perfect since the All-Star break and has won 16 of its last 18 overall, going a sizzling 13-2-3 ATS.

Atlanta scored a 96-83 win over Utah in December, cashing as a six-point home favorite. The home team has won six straight in this series and eight of 10 dating back to 2005. The Hawks have cashed in four of the last five meetings, but they are just 1-6 ATS in their last seven visits to Salt Lake City. The favorite is riding a 13-3 ATS run in the last 16 series clashes.

The Hawks are on ATS slides of 0-4 as a road ‘dog and 0-4 on the second night of a back-to-back, but they are on positive pointspread streaks of 6-2-2 on Monday, 8-3-1 against Northwest Division teams and 20-8-1 when catching five to 10½-points. Utah, which now has the best pointspread record in the NBA, is on a plethora of positive ATS runs, including 20-6-3 overall, 15-5-2 at home, 20-7-2 as a favorite, 13-3-1 against Eastern Conference teams and 5-1-1 on the second night of a back-to-back.

For Atlanta, the “under” is on streaks of 10-3 on Monday, 3-1-1 as a road ‘dog and 4-0 against teams with a winning record. The Jazz have topped the total in six of eight on Monday, but they are on “under” streaks of 4-0 overall and 4-0 as a favorite. In this series, the under has been the play in four straight clashes overall, with the last six in a row in Utah staying low.

ATS ADVANTAGE: UTAH

Al DeMarco, General Manager of PickNation.com, is a 25-year veteran of the handicapping industry who is also the featured handicapping analyst on Comcast Sports TV in Chicago and a regular contributor on Fox Sports and MSNBC. Read his Daily Blog for his gambling insight, tips and observations at PickNation.com