Vegas Play of the Day: Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Clippers

By Case Keefer (contact)

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 | 12:55 p.m.

We’ve entered the fourth season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won back-to-back titles in the 2015-2016 and 2016-17 seasons, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015.

Utah Jazz plus-4.5 at Los Angeles Clippers: $440 to win $400

The first week of the NBA season bore out what the numbers indicated over the last few months — the Clippers are better than expected, despite trading Chris Paul. Los Angeles won and covered comfortably in each of its first two games with the best defensive efficiency in the league.

Now comes the hard part: Maintaining it against better teams. It’s a lot easier to look smothering against the Lakers and Suns than it is against a team like the Jazz.

Utah has quietly looked even better so far. The Jazz are undefeated against the spread, 2-1 straight-up, with a plus-13 point differential, despite playing three likely playoff teams — Oklahoma City, Denver and Minnesota.

They’re built much like the Clippers in that they rely on a strong defense and smart offense but might be an even better version. The Jazz did knock out the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs last year, after all, and went through a similar offseason in losing their best player, Gordon Hayward.

Utah never got more than 3.5 points at Staples Center in April’s playoff series, and it shouldn’t here either. The Clippers will continue to surprise this season, but so will the Jazz.

Current Standings: Granger (8-7, $11,975), Keefer (11-9-1, $10,341), Brewer (12-11, $9,530), Grimala (5-6, $8,715)

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.