NBA: Washington Wizards vs. Utah Jazz Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Utah Jazz suffered a failure last night, but they have a chance to erase it from memory against the Washington Wizards. Quin Snyder’s unit lost to San Antonio Spurs at home, even though they had a huge lead throughout the event. The Wizards are in crisis, losing four in a row, and getting down to .500. We don’t know why this happened, but let’s be honest, something like this was expected. We will now see what the mentality of the Wizards is and whether they have enough mental power to overcome adversity.

Preview

Washington Wizards (15-15, +515) come to Slat Lake after four consecutive defeats, the first against the Jazzers at home, and three on the road – in Denver, Sacramento, and Phoenix. In all of them, the team from DC allowed a very high number of points, 123, 113, 119, and 118.

The latest loss was in Phoenix 118-98. Washington couldn’t resist the Suns in any aspects of the game, and even though they tried to fight back, the hosts were simply better. A big problem in Wes Unseld’s crew was three-point shooting, 6-for-21, and also they had miserable 32 boards, 15 fewer than the Suns.

Bradley Beal was the only one who had a decent game, scoring 26 points, 11-for-18. We also want to point out young Deni Avdija, a sophomore who is developing at a steady pace. The young guard/forward scored 14 points with four boards and assists, missing only one of his six shots from the field. Trez Harrell had 12 off the bench with seven boards.

Utah Jazz (20-8, -750) doesn’t have any room for mistakes now. After eight wins in a row, some of them against top teams in the West, the Jazzers allowed themselves to lose at home to the San Antonio Spurs, 128-126.

They had a very big lead at halftime, 73-59, but were blown into pieces in the third period, 41-23, which was the main reason for this defeat. That was arguably the worst quarter for the Jazz since the start of the entire campaign.

Donovan Mitchell had 27 points with five boards and four assists, while Mike Conley contributed with 18 and six boards and dimes as well. Rudy Gobert scored 16 with 14 boards, while Bojan Bogdanovic helped with the same number of buckets. As usual, Jordan Clarkson was lethal off the bench with 21 points. Though, this wasn’t enough for the home team to win due to a bad defense.

Head to Head Games

The Jazz sliced the Wizards in the first meeting this year. It took place in DC seven days ago, and the guests took back home a 123-98 victory. Mitchell had 28 points, Gobert 20 with 11 rebounds. Beal was the most efficient among the hosts, with 21 buckets.

Prediction

The Jazz will come highly motivated to beat this rival and redeem for last night’s unexpected defeat. We expect an easy and confident victory of the hosts, who won’t take the foot of the gas paddle in this one. The lesson is learned against the Spurs, and it won’t happen again. Therefore, the home unit should cover a -11.5 point spread.

Pick: Utah -11.5