Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA game on ESPN. The Jazz are looking to win their 8th straight home game as they welcome the struggling Portland Trail Blazers to town. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
- Start date: 09.03.2022 at 10:00 PM
- Location: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Utah
Utah Jazz
Facing a team like the Blazers will be a welcome sight for the Jazz as they’ve dropped 2 of their last 3 games. After playing 6 of their last 7 games away from home they finally return to Salt Lake City where they’ve beaten 22 of 32 opponents this season.
They’ll need Donovan Mitchell to step up his game tonight, after he struggled against Dallas shooting just 5-for-19 from the field. Croatian sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic had another great game with 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, just a game after he scored 11 threes in the win at Oklahoma City.
If one of those guys gets hot in tonight’s game then we can expect good things from these Jazz. They’ve not performed well against the spread lately covering just once in their last 7 games and against Western Conference opponents they are 1-6 ATS in 7 games. They have had the upper hand over the Blazers lately though winning 2 of the 3 most recent meetings.
Portland Trail Blazers
I don’t even know where to begin with these Blazers as they have so many problems right now. They’ve lost 5 games in a row, in their last 8 games on the road they are just 2-6 ATS and in the last 5 meetings with the Jazz they are 1-4 ATS.
They are not only losing games right now, but teams are blowing them out on a nightly basis as well. Their last 5 losses have been by 43, 14, 30, 32 and 37 points which is one of the worst stretches by any team in the NBA this season.
To make matters worse the Jazz already beat them by 22 and 15 points earlier this season and if I am a Blazers fan I am worried ahead of tonight’s game as well. Damian Lillard, Eric Bledsoe, Joe Ingles, Justise Winslow and Jusuf Nurkic are all out with injuries. Their leading scorer Anfernee Simons is questionable with a knee issue, I just don’t know where the scoring will come from is he isn’t playing.
When a team is losing games by an average of 31.2 points per game, it’s hard for me to justify backing them here. This should be all Utah, they are by far more talented and healthier at this point of the season. Back the home team.
Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers Predictions & Odds
Despite not scoring much as of late, the Blazers continue to go over the total due to their lack of defending. They are 16-14 on the O/U in road games this season and the total has gone over in 4 of their last 7 games overall.
I’d be cautious here though, in case Simons doesn’t play they’ll have a hard time reaching 100 points as they’ve failed to do so in 4 of their last 5 games. Utah has gone under the total in 9 of 13 games and their last 4 of 5 games vs Portland have all gone under the total.
The two teams are averaging 221.2 points per game in the 3 most recent meetings, while over the last 10 that number is up to 225.7 per game. But all those numbers go out the window with so many Portland injuries at the moment. Utah ranks only 19th in pace of play averaging 99.7 possessions per game, while the Blazers are just 2 spots above them with 100.6 per game.
Assuming the Blazers don’t get to 100 points here, then we’d need the Jazz to score at least 122 which isn’t something they’ve done too often this season. I’d go for the under as the safer option.
