NBA Betting: Chicago Bulls at Utah Jazz

Two teams with plenty of problems go at it in Salt Lake City on Monday night as the Utah Jazz take on the Chicago Bulls. The Jazz are the worst team in the NBA which, in large part, is by design-they’re looking to rebuild and shed payroll and they’ve definitely done a good job of that. They’ve also got some injuries to deal with though even at full strength they’re among the worst teams in the league. The Bulls are looking to pick up the pieces after losing superstar Derrick Rose to another serious knee injury. This is their second game since Rose went down so if Chicago is a little bit shell shocked it’s understandable.

The only way that the Bulls will win without Rose is by playing nasty team defense. They looked lost against the LA Clippers on Sunday which was to be expected. Now they’ve got a great chance to get their defensive mojo back against the lowly Utah Jazz. Utah is in serious rebuilding mode. Actually that might be premature-they *will* be in serious rebuilding mode next year but for now they’re clearing salary cap space and angling for a top draft pick. As a result this may be one of the worst Jazz teams since the franchise moved to Utah Utah lost Randy Foye, Paul Milsap, Mo Williams and Al Jefferson in the off season. That’s a lot of money off the books, of course, but also a combined 56 points and 20 rebounds per game. They’ll likely be without Enes Kanter here as well as point guard Brandon Rush.

Hard to trust the Chicago Bulls until we see them get their legs in the post Rose era so we won’t take the ‘obvious’ play of laying points with them on the road. The altitude alone makes Utah a tough place to play. Both teams were in the lower echelon of scoring before Rose went out and it won’t get any better now that he’s gone. We’ll go ‘Under’ the low total and look for a final score in the high 160′s to low 170′s in what will likely be an ugly game.

BET CHICAGO BULLS/UTAH JAZZ UNDER 184