NBA Free Picks - Jazz @ Bucks

Oftentimes the best NBA matchups happen when teams step out of their comfort zones and play opponents from different conferences and areas of the country.

When teams aren't as familiar with each other, they tend to be able to freelance more and that leads to more exciting games.

Tonight's Utah Jazz vs. Milwaukee Bucks game could provide that type of matchup as both teams bring some interesting players and an interesting style matchup to the table.

The Bucks have found some young and talented surprises this year, Brandon Jennings being the key revelation of course, but he has struggled badly since his hot start.

Playing against a strong, savvy, tough point guard like Deron Williams will be a key matchup to watch as it relates to tonight's NBA betting spread as well as the future of Jennings' development.

If Jennings can play well against Williams it will certainly be a good sign for the future.

Utah Jazz (42-22 SU, 40-21-3 ATS) at Milwaukee Bucks (34-29 SU, 41-21-1 ATS)

8:35 p.m. ET, Sirius channel 121

NBA betting spread: Milwaukee Bucks favored at -1.

It's been a long, tough Eastern road trip for the Jazz but they've shown some signs of being a Western Conference title contender down the stretch as they compete with Denver in a hard-fought Northwest Division title race with the Nuggets.

As for the Jennings-Williams matchup, Jennings has a big speed advantage but Williams can recover and use his smarts to force Jennings into some uneven jump shots.

Williams also can abuse Jennings on the other end by using his size to penetrate or post up will spotting open shooters.

Speaking of open shooters, Utah has plenty of them and they've been hot lately.

Kyle Korver and Mehmet Okur in particular buried Detroit on the road earlier on in the Eastern trip and you can really tell that the Jazz are in a nice rhythm as the try to get hot heading toward the playoffs.

The Jazz will need to win this one to send a message that they are here to stay in the Western race by beating the Bucks.

The -1 spread in favor of Milwaukee is interesting but the Bucks deserve it because they have been just as good ATS all year.

The NBA betting trends cancel each other out in this one, and in that case, taking the more experienced, deeper team is a good bet.

NBA betting pick: Utah Jazz (+1).