Scott Delaney
10 Dime Lakers - Upon winning Game 1 of this series, the Lakers upped their dominance of this team to 19-6 the last 25 meetings, and they've now won 15 straight inside of Staples. Los Angeles has also gone an impressive 38-7 at home, outscoring the opposition by more than eight points per game (103.5-94.8).
It's that type of stifling defense that has impressed me with this Lakers team, as it's been incredibly tenacious and dominating because of the transitional effects it can have. Los Angeles' defense held the Jazz to one field goal in the final 4:10 of Game 1, while Showtime pulled away to secure the win.
I see the Lakers doing much of the same tonight, that they've done all season to dominate this team, and move out to a 2-0 series lead.
Checking the betting numbers, the Jazz are on ATS slides of a meager 2-6 as road underdogs, 4-8 on the road against teams with winning home records and 5-18 as underdogs in this range.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are on a 12-6 ATS run in conference semifinal games, and have now won three straight playoff contests (2-1 ATS), and it are 4-0 at home in the playoffs (3-1 ATS).
Lay the chalk here.