Nets vs. Jazz Prediction: NBA Odds, Point Spread
In what is legitimately a potential NBA Finals preview, the league-leading Utah Jazz will welcome the Eastern Conference’s second place Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. Both teams come into this game with wins in their last two games and have been dominating their respective conferences all season. Brooklyn’s No. 1 offence faces off against a Jazz team with the best home record in the league.
Utah is a 10-point favourite to win on the NBA odds with a total of 229.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
This will be the second and final regular season meeting between these teams this year. Utah is looking for a little revenge after getting crushed 130-96 in Brooklyn on Jan. 5. Donovan Mitchell had a game-high 31 points for the Jazz in the loss, while Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 29 points.
Brooklyn has done well when oddsmakers overlook them, going 10-2 as an underdog this season. They’re 23-21 against the spread and have covered in nine of their last 10 road games. The Nets seem to focus completely on offence and tend to neglect the backcourt, leading them to go 28-16 on the Over/Under. They’ve hit the Over in 15 of 21 road games this year.
Utah has done well against the Nets in the past, winning seven of the last 10 games between these teams. The Jazz are 27-14-1 ATS this season, but have only covered in two of their last eight games. They’ve hit the Over in eight of 18 home games this year and six of their last eight games against Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn is the hottest team in the Eastern Conference right now. Even with Kevin Durant on the sidelines since Feb. 13, the Nets have managed to win 16 of their last 18 games. Kyrie Irving, who has been in and out of the lineup this year, won’t play during Brooklyn’s three-game road trip as he deals with a family issue. When Irving is with the team, he has been one of the Nets’ best players. He’s averaging 28.1 points per game, 4.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Joe Harris has been stepping up in a big way during Irving and Durant’s absences this year. Harris dropped 17 points in Brooklyn’s 116-112 win over Portland on Tuesday and he’s averaging a career-high 14.7 points per game this season.
With Durant and Irving out, it will be up to James Harden to continue to lead the team. The Beard is averaging 25.4 points per game and 8.7 rebounds. What’s changed about Harden from his time in Houston, however, is his ability to facilitate the ball. Harden leads the NBA in assists and is averaging a career-high 11.2 dimes per game, including 12.3 since the beginning of March.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz look to be back on track after a patch of bad games before the All-Star break. Mitchell once again led the way in Utah’s 120-95 blowout win over Chicago on Monday, dropping a game-high 30 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Mitchell has been an MVP candidate this season, averaging a team-high 25.4 points per game. He’s also averaged 4.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Mitchell has stepped his game up even further in March, averaging close to 29 points per game, but he’s only shooting 42 per cent from the field in that span.
With the attention for this team usually centred around Mitchell or Rudy Gobert (Gobert averages a team-high 13.4 rebounds per game and 3 blocks), Joe Ingles often flies under the radar. Ingles put up 17 points and seven rebounds on Monday and has averaged 18.4 points on 66.7 per cent shooting over the last five games. He also made five-of-six from beyond the arc against the Bulls, bringing his shooting percentage to 50 per cent from 3-point range for the season.
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