NBA: Utah Jazz vs. Philadelphia 76ers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Philadelphia 76ers are visiting the Utah Jazz in a match that could tell us a lot about the potential of both sides. The 76ers are without several key players having four consecutive losses, while on the other side, the Jazz have played some very poor games, posting only one victory over the recent five contents. This is really more of a mental power test than anything else, and we’ll see the players’ character on the line here. Utah is the absolute favorite, but the Jazzers were in a similar situation recently, eventually ending on the losing side.

Preview

Utah Jazz (8-5, -400) lost a nice chance to use the home-court advantage and create some winning streak that would keep them close to the Golden State Warriors. The Jazzers played the previous three events at home, winning the first and losing the next two, against the Pacers and the Heat.

The most recent match vs. Heat ended 111-105 for the guests from Florida, who were even up 27 points in certain moments. Utah was inferior on the glass, posting 38 boards, 10 fewer than the guests. Rudy
Gobert was outplayed in every aspect of the game, which is why the Heat scored 50 points from the paint, allowing 36.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 points in this one, six threes, Donovan Mitchell had 22, while Jordan Clarkson entered off the bench for 25, shooting 4-for-13 from downtown. Gobert had a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards.

Philadelphia 76ers (8-6, +380) are without Joel Embiid, who is out due to health and safety protocols. Danny Green is also, out, the same as Matisse Thybulle. We don’t need to mention that Ben Simmons isn’t available as well.

Because of all this, the Sixers have four consecutive losses and look pretty mediocre. Three of them were at home. It all started against the Knicks, then the Bucks, and the Raptors, before the most recent defeat that took place in Indiana, against the Pacers, 118-113. There wasn’t any drama in this game, because Indiana called all the shots right from the start.

Tobias Harris scored 32 points with 11 boards, and Tyrese Maxey had 24, shooting 10-for-15. These two were the only notable attackers in the 76ers’ team. Andre Drummond had 11 points and 16 boards. The only positive thing that will come out from this situation is the fact that the Sixers now have Maxey, who is a legit point guard, and could be very useful in the remainder of the year. In our opinion, he has a very bright future.

Head to Head Games

Each team split a win at home last year. The result in Utah was 134-123 for the hosts, and in Philly, 131-123 after OT also for the hosts.

Prediction

This should be a win for the Jazzers, but we simply don’t believe that they are going to cover the -8.5 handicap. The 76ers are weaker at the moment, but all of their recent losses were pretty much within this range. And they’ve met with the Knicks and the Bucks, for instance. So, our suggestion here would be to go with the Sixers defending the spread.

Pick: Philadelphia 76ers +8.5