Portland Trail Blazers vs Utah Jazz Betting Prediction, Odds, Lines & Picks
The Jazz will host the Trail Blazers tonight as they try to hold on to the No. 1 seed in the West. Right now, Utah is two games ahead of Phoenix at the top of the conference and the league. However, with only 3 games left, the Suns hold the tiebreaker. This means that the Jazz needs at least two wins to secure the home advantage throughout the playoffs. On Monday night, they snapped their 5-game winning streak losing to the Warriors. It was only their 5th loss in the last 15 games.
Overall, the Jazz are 50-19 SU and 39-29-1 ATS. The Blazers are on a roll themselves, losing only once in the last 9 games. This winning streak came after five straight losses late in April. They are now at 6th place in the West holding the final direct playoff spot. With the 40-29 record, they are only a game ahead of the Lakers. Against the spread, the Blazers are 35-34 this season. Tonight is the third and final game between two teams in this campaign. The Jazz have won both previous games.
Portland Trail Blazers vs Utah Jazz Betting Odds & Line Movement
The oddsmakers are favoring Utah in this one and the line is -3.5. The total opened at 233.5 but has moved up slightly to 234.5.
Notes On The Portland Trail Blazers
After some excellent performances lately, the Portland Blazers have the playoff destiny in their own hands. However, they face stern opposition in the last three games as they go against Utah, Phoenix, Denver. Keeping their offensive groove will be the key for them in the remaining games. In their last 4 wins, the Blazers have averaged 127.8 points on an efficient 49.3% from the floor and 40.3% from the three. In their last game, on Monday, they beat the Rockets 140-129 after scoring 50 in the first quarter. As usual, Lillard led the scoring with 34 points. McCollum and Powell added 28 each.
Zach Collins remains out for tonight, while Nassir Little is listed as questionable.
Notes On The Utah Jazz
The Jazz had dealt with injuries to some of the key players lately but still managed to stay on top of the league. They showed that they have perhaps the deepest rotation in the league. After all, two leading 6th Man of the Year contenders, Joe Ingles and Jordan Clarkson, both play for Utah. The Jazz put together a 5-game winning streak without Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley before losing to the Warriors on Monday. Clarkson was explosive from the bench with 41 points while Bojan Bogdanovic added 27. However, no other players scored more than 10 points. Part of the reason is that Clarkson, who mainly acts as a primary playmaker in the absence of two starting guards, had zero assists. If the Jazz are to beat Portland, Phillipino guard must find a way to involve his teammates more.
Mitchell and Conley probably won’t be back before the end of the regular season. Juwan Morgan is the only other absentee.
Portland Trail Blazers vs Utah Jazz Betting Prediction & Pick: Portland +3.5
With so much on the line, we can expect a tight and nervy game. A motivated, healthy, and in-form Portland team should be more than a match for the depleted Jazz. Plus, they’re solid as the ATS underdogs this season, going 15-12 in those games.
