It looks as though the result will only be going one way as the Jazz visit the Oakland based side that are sitting pretty in the Western play-offs.

It’s been a long struggle of Utah this season, having won only one from all nine of their games so far and have leaked over 300 points in their last three outings on the road. With problems both on the field and off it, the Salt Lake City side have waived veteran point guard Jamaal Tinsley after an average of only 1.1 per game and are still without Trey Burke who won’t have his right index finger re-evaluated until November 25.

Wednesday was a massive step into rectifying their poor form however, which saw them surpass 100 points for the first time this season. Against an equally poor Pelicans side, Jazz’s young guns finally started to make their mark in the NBA with Gordon Hayward putting in one of his finer performances in a Jazz shirt with 27 points and 10 assists, whilst Swiss 21-year old Enes Kanter had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Alongside Derrick Favors, who took a career-high five steaks, it could be the confidence boost the Jazz need following a torrid start which saw Kevin Durant teach them a lesson in the first game of the season.

The Warriors however have no such problems and have recently extended the contract of Center Andrew Bogut, who leads the side’s blocks per game average and has been instrumental in their season so far.

A tough game against OKC on Thursday, when they clung on to a one point victory in a tense final quarter may have a say in their performance at the EnergySolutions Arena, but with four wins in their last six, it shouldn’t play a huge part in a side who sit inside the play-offs performance. Wins against the Pistons, the Timberwolves and the 76ers in the early stages of the season have turned them into contenders, whilst Stephen Curry’s baskets and assists are leading the team to the playoffs for the second year running.

Despite what should be a comfortable victory for the Warriors, they will have to be wary. Utah’s young starlets will have their tails up following their first win of the season and look to replicate that feeling again against a team who will be coming off the back of a tough game hosting City Thunder. It could be the beginning of a streak for the Jazz, though that’s unlikely.

Long-standing welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre steps into the ring with challenger, former NCAA D-1 standout Johny Hendricks in the main event of UFC 167 this Saturday. Held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hendricks will finally get his shot at the undisputed title after delivering some of the 170-pound division’s most savage knockouts in his MMA career.

Here are the current UFC betting odds from Bovada.lv:

 

Georges St-Pierre -232
Johny Hendricks +231
Hendricks is cast in the role of underdog for Saturday’s fight. The 30-year-old fighter has wasted no time establishing himself as one of MMA’s biggest names in the world. Despite his success and reputation, Hendricks has yet to achieve the task of dethroning a UFC superstar in the octagonal ring. This Saturday St-Pierre literally has a tough fight on his hands as Hendricks may pose the biggest threat to the MMA legend yet.
St-Pierre has had two fights since returning from his 16-month absence in November 2012. Since recovering from the knee injury that knocked him out of UFC, he has come back with a vengeance, defeating Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz. However, he has yet to meet fists with Hendricks.

 

That isn’t going to stop the 32-year-old champion though. Hailed as a classic, St-Pierre will be defending the undisputable title for an eighth consecutive time. Now back in full swing from his break at injury rehab, St-Pierre has the UFC odds on his side and will be fiercely proving that he is an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.
But this unstoppable force must first knock out the unmovable object that is Hendricks: and he has a roster of skills in his bag. The 15-1 record holder has ended three of his last six fights with a Knockout of the Night. Hendricks’ blend of wrestling ability and crippling blows means that the UFC 167 main event could be either man’s game.
Although missing out on the main event spot, many fans will be eagerly anticipating the light heavyweight battle between Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen. The bout between these fan favourites would usually make the headline, but with the limelight on St-Pierre and Hendricks, they have had to make do with the co-main event position.
Their odds are as follows:
Chael Sonnen +166
Rashad Evans -175
Both of these MMA veterans have had to face up to difficult loses recently, leaving their chances for another future title shot hindered. On the fast track to claiming light heavyweight championship glory, Evans lost his last title fight against champion Jon Jones. He was then defeated once more in his follow-up fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
After defeating Dan Henderson in his last battle, a victory over Sonnen would be exactly what “Suga” needs to decisively prove to UFC officials that he is still championship material.
Evans isn’t the only one seeking redemption at UFC 167. Although winning his last fight against Mauricio Rua, Sonnen is seeing his opportunities run low. His latest win came off the back of two difficult losses against champions Anderson Silva and Jon Jones.
With fantastic submission abilities, he will be looking for a clear win over his comrade. But with a speed advantage and a similar skillset to boot, Evans might be throwing in this friendship for a much needed win.

 

 

 

Match Listings For UFC 167

Main Card – 10pm/7PM ETPT
Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks
Rashad Evans vs. Chael Sonnen
Rory MacDonald vs. Robbie Lawler
Josh Koscheck vs. Tyron Woodley
Tim Elliot vs. Ali Bagautinov
Fox Sports 1 Prelims – 8pm/5pm ETPT
Donald Cerrone vs. Evan Dunham
Ed Herman vs. Thales Leites
Brian Ebersole vs. Rick Story
Erik Perez vs. Edwin Figueroa

 

Online Prelims – 6.30pm/3.30pm ETPT
Jason High vs. Anthony Lapsley
Will Campuzano vs. Sergio Pettis
Cody Donovan vs. Gian Villante

 

With many seeing this as OKC’s year for the championship, the second favourites aren’t doing themselves any harm with a 5-3 record. Kevin Durant is streets ahead in the player rankings, averaging an astonishing 29.3 points per game and doesn’t look like slowing down.

Durant is the form man this season and has regularly made over 50 points for his team. His stand-out performance came at the beginning of the campaign. Looking like he was in mid-season form, the Durantula scored 42 points, 15 of which coming in the final quarter as they got their season off to a juggernaut start, which has failed to slow down.

Despite a minor blip in the last two games, defeated by the Warriors and Clippers, City Thunder have seen off Washington, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix in the last few weeks and will look to continue their run before they face the Spurs in a crucial game on November 27. With both the Spurs and OKC looking strong this season, it could prove to be the first advantage for one of the two, who are almost guaranteed to be in the top eight come April.

After a down-to-the-wire game against the Warriors, which saw them run out 115-116 losers, despite a strong final quarter, they will be hoping the defeat won’t affect their trip to Milwaukee who are struggling with a record of 2-5.

The Bucks have had a somewhat low key start to their campaign. Losing four in six, they have struggled to convert points, with OJ Mayo the only player with a respectable ppg average and are unlikely to cause any threat this season. They have been on the losing end to Orlando, Miami and Dallas in the last week and face an uphill battle against the unbeaten Pacers, who look almost certain to go 9-0 on Friday night.

Likely to be given the runaround, it could be a tired Bucks that turn up to the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Saturday, and for those interested in betting on the NBA, you might not go far wrong on an imperious Durant scoring 25 plus.

What isn’t helped is the troubles off the court. Following a bust up in a nightclub, Bucks star man Larry Sanders is out for approximately six weeks with a thumb injury. The Center has the highest blocks per game average for his side, making it unlikely the Wisconsin team will be able to muster anything against OKC.

The 76ers will look to continue a solid start to the season against a poor Pelicans side at the New Orleans Arena on Saturday 16 November.

Despite a blip in form against the Spurs and Cavaliers over the last week, the Sixers have picked up some impressive wins against the Bulls and Miami Heat in the early stages of this season and find themselves top in the Atlantic Division ahead of the Celtics and Raptors. Back to winning ways in Wednesday night’s round of games, Brett Brown’s side launched a stunning final quarter comeback against the Rockets to take the game into overtime, where they ran out 117-123 winners.

23 of those points came from star man Evan Turner who has been lighting up the NBA in these early stages and sees him sat 8th in the player rankings table with shooting an average of 23 per game. Turner will certainly be looking to net beyond that against a Pelicans side that have one of the worst defensive records in the league.

That is backed up by Wednesday night’s loss against the previously winless Utah Jazz. Conceding 111 against a side that had failed to hit the 100 point mark all season will have massively dented their confidence and could leave them rather sitting ducks than Pelicans at the New Orleans Arena.

New Orleans’  less than impressive start to the season has seen them struggle to replicate the form they found during a 7 from 8 winning preseason. Having only won three of their nine, the Pelicans have often struggled in the middle quarters which could play into Philly’s hands come Saturday.

Whilst they have picked up some wins, they have also come against fellow strugglers, whilst against the NBA’s form players they have regularly leaked over 120 points since the beginning of preseason, which could see Turner and co. have a field day.

It would be brave to bet against the Sixers against a Pelicans side that have offered nothing so far this campaign and with a good record against them in recent times, five wins out of seven, the Sixers will more than likely still be sat at the top of the Atlantic Division on Sunday morning.

One of the games of the weekend, both teams have been exciting to watch this season, with Kevin Love of the Timberwolves heading into the November 16 game sitting pretty at second in the player rankings.

Center, Love has been in astonishing form this season, averaging 27.1 points per game including an impressive 33 against the Cavs on Wednesday night, as well as post-30 scores against the Mavericks and the Knicks. Already an early front runner for MVP, the Californian is turning heads throughout the league, and will almost certainly keep that up against a Celtics side that were comfortably beaten by the Bobcats on Wednesday.

However, Boston do go into the game in slightly better form. Having won four of their last five including a thrilling one point win over NBA champions Miami Heat, it’s been a huge turn around in fortunes for the Massachusetts team, who got off to a terrible start and have now won their last three on the road, something of which the Timberwolves will be very wary.

The Portland Trail Blazers is up next for the Celtics before they travel to Minnesota, which will test their new-found-form to the max. The Trail Blazers are second in the Western Conference and are the only side to beat San Antonio Spurs in the early stages of this season. And it could prove a step to far for Kris Humphries who has received very little playing time this season. He stepped into the team on Wednesday, in for Jared Sullinger, and looked a little rusty against the Bobcats, and with two tough games approaching, could prove to be the weak link that both Portland and Minnesota could target.

Love has been leading the Timberwolves so far this season, who have won all-but-one of their games at the Target Center this season. Their 113-90 win a few days ago at the Staples Center against the Lakers, displayed the Wolves’ killer instinct in abundance, scoring 47 points in the first quarter, the highest in any quarter in franchise history. Followed up by a further 107 points on November 11 against the Clippers and 124 against the Cavaliers, Saturday’s game hosting the Celtics, could be one of the highest scorers of the weekend.

This all Western Conference tie is likely to go the Rockets way as they have taken off to a flyer this season, averaging over 105 points per game.

Visiting the Nuggets on Saturday November 16, the Rockets will be looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing overtime loss against the 76ers on Wednesday night, their second game to reach overtime in a row. The Rockets will be hugely tired after going the extra distance twice in the last three games as well as a high-scoring win visiting the Knicks on Thursday night, and will be wary of entering the court on Saturday a little sluggish.

Houston lie just outside the Western play-off places with a 5-4 record and have one of the league’s in-form men in the shape of 24-year-old Guard James Harden. Ranked fourth in the player rankings so far this season, the former OKC  man has a points average of 24.9 in his nine games and shot an impressive 35 in the Texan teams agonising one point defeat against the Lakers last week.

Beating the Pacers twice and the San Antonio Spurs during preseason, Houston are capable of beating anyone and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them start to climb the standings in the next few weeks. They’ll certainly want to win this one. With tough games lying ahead in the next few weeks, including the Hawks, Mavericks and Spurs all before the end of the month, they will need to cash in on the weaker teams if they are to finish in the final eight come April.

But the Nuggets will feel they can turn their fortunes against a busy Houston side. With only Friday resting, the Nuggets will feel their win against the Lakers will give them a huge confidence boost as they look to get their campaign back on track.

It’s not been the best start for Denver defensively, conceding over 100 points every game on average, whilst Ty Lawson is the only player proving his worth in the side leading both the points and assists per game. It’s expected to be a high-scoring game, but should the Nuggets see out a result in Minnesota on Friday night, that could prove a turning point in the Nuggets season, and who knows, the result could quite easily go against the odds.

The Pacers immaculate record so far in the 2013-14 has to come to an end eventually. But will it be this weekend?

Both sides could be feeling the effects of the night before, with the Bulls travelling to Toronto and the Pacers hosting Milwaukee, but it’s still set to be highlight of this weekend’s match-ups.

The Indiana side are running away with the Eastern Conference so far having an 8-0 record and one of the NBA’s most in-form players Paul George. George has had a fine season so far, last week picking up the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, after a four game run which saw him average 24.8 points per game. It could be a tough night prior to visiting Chicago however, as they host rivals the Bucks. The Bucks will no doubt be fired up to end the Pacers impressive record, whilst Indiana will be going all out to keep it going.

23-year-old George may have the biggest say in this. He’s logging points and assists aplenty and will be the Bulls defence major concern at the United Center.

The Bulls are having a tight season so far, a record of 3-3 is perhaps testament to their inconsistency this season. Having won their last two however, they will hope to keep their streak going as well as looking to revenge a side that beat them 80-97 just over a week ago. Before the big game of the weekend however, they must first see out a difficult game in Toronto. The Raptors are lying second in the Atlantic Division and just behind the Bulls in the Eastern Conference, so will be both looking to cement their position in the play-offs during these early season stages.

Looking for revenge after November 6,  the Bulls have met the Pacers twice already in recent months and rolled out winners in their first preseason game of the campaign, in what was Derek Rose’s return to action following a the 2012-13 season out on the side-lines.

Rose has been a key figure in the Bulls line up so far this season, averaging 14.7 points per game as he continues to find full fitness following his lengthy absence and could play a major part if the Bulls are going to put the first dent in the Pacers record.

 

The Knicks will go into this game full of confidence after downing Atlanta 95-91 just a few days ago and will want to improve their fortunes at Madison Square Garden as they look to continue their progression in the Eastern Conference.

The Hawks however, will want to bounce back and feel encouraged by a New York side that have only one win out of five at home, and are struggling at the foot of the Atlantic Division.

Averaging 93 points per game, they  have failed to prove their worth against Conference leaders, with only Carmelo Anthony doing anything of note for the 8 time Conference winners. But with wins in two of their last three, they look as though they are fighting to rectify the results that has seen them move into tenth in the Eastern standings, and will certainly be preying on the Hawks for back-to-back victories.

Head-to-head, the Knicks have been pretty convincing in recent times with the Hawks unable to down New York since early 2012. They will hope that the form of Al Horford will go someway to amending that after scoring 23 points on Wednesday, whilst Jeff Teague also showed his prowess with 25 points and eight assists. Despite this they struggled to convert their 3 point shots in a fairly even game which proved to be the difference, with the Knicks converting 12 of their 34 attempts.

The Hawks have yet to face serious opposition so far and have won three of their last five, building up a 103 points per game average in the process. Defeats on the road against the Denver Nuggets and LA Lakers, who sit in the lower half of the Western Conference will keep the Knicks tails up, and could end their baron run at the Square Garden on November 16 2013.

A tight game on Wednesday, this one could go either way and will mostly once again go down to those three point differences. Whichever way it does go however, expect points. Both teams are regularly shipping in 100, with the Knicks looking to continue to turn their fortunes this weekend after their recent 120-89 point mauling from the hands of the imperious Spurs.

Though it could prove more of the same. Lacking shot blockers, the Knicks will be once again without Tyson Chandler who continues to recover from a broken leg, which could see the Hawks swoop and take full advantage.

Neither the Cleveland Cavaliers or  Washington Wizards are particularly setting the NBA alight this season having both lost six of their last eight games, and both go into the game on November 16 desperate for a win.

The Cavaliers will be buoyed by the return of Center, Andrew Bynum who is expected to take to the court after being excused from the midweek games to address a family matter. After gaining 37 points in his short spell so far this season, it will be a welcome return to a Cleveland side, who have struggled to score points on the road this season.

The two-time NBA Champion signed for the franchise in the off season after a turbulent season with knee problems in the previous campaign. He will join Kyrie Erving in a team that has been struggling to get big scores this season. Erving has been the stand-out player for the Cavs with a points per game average of 19.4 whilst also leading the assists table.

It’s been a troublesome month for Cleveland so far but they have managed to take some impressive scalps in the Sixers and Timberwolves, who are hitting some big scores this autumn.

Washington however, lie at the foot of the Southeast division having lost their last three against tough opposition. Their last win came on November 8 against fellow strugglers the Nets, taking them into overtime following a thrilling 26-26 final quarter. Taking Kevin Durant’s City Thunder into overtime two days later, it’s where their slump in form began. Durant pulverized the Wizards with a stunning 33 points and 13 rebounds on their way to victory and has left the  Southeast side unable to recover. Games against the Spurs on Wednesday and the Mavericks the day before saw them easily beaten, and they will be hoping the Cavs visit may be a little easier on them.

Tipped to be one that could go either way in the NBA this weekend, the Washington Wizards will look to bounce back from their tough games in the early part of the season. Head-to-head it’s pretty even between the two, with the Wizards comfortably disposing of them preseason but having lost the last three in the NBA regular season.

Orlando will be desperate to end their three game losing streak this Saturday November 16 when they take on an in-form Mavericks in Florida.

Whilst not entirely reflective of their season, the Magic have come up against the Celtics, who have found an impressive run of form, twice in the last few weeks as well as a Hawks side who, led by Al Horford, are regularly dunking post-100 this season. Orlando have however put in some good performances against the weaker sides. Despite seeing out a very strong Clippers side, they have also netted over 100 points of their own against the Nets and Pelicans this season, with Nikola Vucevic being instrumental throughout this campaign. The NBA Rising Star 2013 has an average of 11.8 rebounds per game and alongside Arron Affalo has been the team’s player to watch so far.

However, the inconsistencies withing their results could benefit a Mavericks side that are chomping at the bit. It’s an important weekend for the Southwest Division side’s season with the Heat on Friday before heading upstate to Orlando.  Having won five of their eight so far, they find themselves just inside the play-off places following a Houston Rockets defeat at the Sixers on Wednesday night, and lie second in their division only due to the stunning form of San Antonio Spurs.

The Mavericks are unbeaten in two having downed the Bucks and the Wizards in the last week, whilst Dallas Guard, Monta Ellis is averaging and impressive 22.5 points per game this season. Sitting on the edge of the top eight, they will be going all out this season to ensure there isn’t a repeat of the last campaign where they failed to reach the play-offs for the first time since 2000, and therefore will be desperate to capitalize on Orlando’s mixed season so far.

Orlando are within touching distance of the play-offs themselves, sitting just outside the Eastern Conference’s top eight, and have already dispatched the Mavericks once this season. Maurice Harkless will be looking to replicate his 16 point performance in Magic’s 102-94 preseason win in October, and after what will have been no doubt an exhausting night on Friday in Miami, look to tire Dallas and take a step up the Southeast Division Standings.