Sunday night "double trouble" (Rockets -3.5/Hornets -2.5 content)

Jazz 0-16 on road @ >.500 teams

Portland 1-14 on road @ >.500 teams

Will both win on the same night?

 

The last time I did a "double trouble" write up, it was NIT with Creighton (-2) and Bradley (-3 vs. Oakland) defending great non-conference home records and I said both wouldn't lose on the same night.  I was right, but Bradley didn't cover the 3 point spread and we saw Creighton get a breakaway steal from Kentucky with 7 seconds left, already up 2 points.  But a layup-saving jersey grab by Jodi Meeks was called personal rather than intentional, and Creighton missed both foul shots with 7 seconds left, allowing Kentucky a tying basket (and the foul) .  Let's try again, as today we've got Utah and Portland as a pair of small underdogs playing tough opponents, and all are in somewhat of a must-win situation. But the problem is that Utah has dropped 16 consecutive road games against teams that (now) have a winning record.  You probably wouldn't think Portland would be a similar suspect, but a closer look reveals the Blazers are 1-14 on the road against their last 15 road opponents with a winning record too!  Utah has been losing those games by an average of 12 points. And Portland?  Well they aren't much better, as they've lost those 14 games by an average of 10.3 points.  Portland is on a little streak and they've won the last 3 games by 20+ points, but they played Memphis, OKC and a road sick Utah team and were (+54) in rebounding margin for those 3 games, a stat which is sure to take a turn with Yao at center.  As for New Orleans, they (along with Portland) are fighting for playoff position but if home court is important to any of those cities, you have to think New Orleans needs that economic boost the most in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.   Streaks always come to an end eventually.. but will both of these unproven road teams suddenly win together in the same day?  Additionally, Utah's 14-23 road record against the Hornet's 27-11 home record is not at all conducive to the (-2.5) spread. 

Take the Hornets and Rockets