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

Two of the top teams in their respective conferences meet on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. The 76ers host the Jazz, in what promises to be one very interesting matchup. Utah plays team basketball, with several lethal scorers who are able to drop 20 points on any defense. Meanwhile, the 76ers have Joel Embiid, the no.1 favorite for taking the MVP award per many experts and fans. The Process is one step ahead of his direct rivals since the season started, and it is no wonder why Philly tops the East with him in such mode.

Preview

Utah Jazz (27-8, -160) showed a slight slowdown in the past few games, and the ultimate proof of that is the loss in New Orleans against the Pelicans, 129-124, on Monday night. We aren’t diminishing the Pels’ win in any way, but it is evident that the Jazz plays at least one gear slower than before.

This was their third loss in the past six matches, with two of them coming in the latest three contests, which were all on the road. After being behind 10+ points midway through the final period, Utah made a strong push that saw them coming down to just one point with less than 50 seconds to go. Unfortunately for Quinn Snyder’s side, the players didn’t have the power to pull out a big upset at the Smoothie King Center.

Bojan Bogdanovic had a team-high against Zion and the crew, 31 points, with the sharpshooting Croatian sinking 7 threes. Rudy Gobert had 22 with nine rebounds and five blocks, Donovan Mitchell 21, and Jordan Clarkson 20.

Philadelphia 76ers (23-12, +140) are one of the fiercest hosts in the league. In 18 matches played at the Wells Fargo Center this year, they have 15 wins, and intend to keep on with such a trend in the upcoming events. One of the losses here came a few nights ago, against the sorry Cleveland Cavaliers, who won after OT, 112-109.

Yet immediately after that, Philly responded, demolishing the Pacers, 130-114. A fantastic second period saw them outscoring Indiana, 39-23, which was the key sequence in the game.

Embiid didn’t play for too long, just 27 minutes, but scored 24 points with 13 boards and five assists during that time. He shot 10-for-17 from the field. Shake Milton, one of the biggest candidates for the Sixth Man of the Year award, had 26 off the bench, and Furkan Korkmaz 19. Ben Simmons managed to score 18 as well.

Head to Head Games

This is the second game of the year between Jazz and the 76ers. The first one in Utah saw the hosts winning 134-123, with Jordan Clarkson delivering 40 points. On the other side, Ben Simmons scored 42, but he didn’t have Joel Embiid, who skipped that event.

Prediction

Both the Jazz and the 76ers aren’t particularly keen on playing defense and making stops. The majority of their wins came through attacks, with them having numerous options to hurt the opponent. That is why we believe that this event won’t be any different. Avoid betting on the winner of the game, but go with high efficiency.

Pick: Over 227.5