While the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns battle for the top spot in the overall NBA standings, there is one team lurking close behind. The Utah Jazz, who posted the best record in the Association last season, are having another strong season but getting overlooked in the Western Conference. The Jazz are doing it at both ends of the floor leading the league with a plus-10.2 scoring margin, and they’ve been free from any COVID issues that have plagued most of the clubs. But that could change in a hurry.
The contest between the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz takes place at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 1, 2022, from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT and will air live on NBATV. BookMaker.eu will have odds for every game on the Saturday NBA schedule.
NBA Betting at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
Both teams will play ahead of this key Western Conference matchup with the Jazz playing the second game of a back-to-back and for the third time in four nights. They are scheduled to host Minnesota on Friday. So there won’t be much of a New Year’s celebration for them, which is probably a good thing since the new virus strain is spreading throughout the world of sports. Without much fanfare the Jazz won 24 of their first 33 games for the third-best record in the NBA. Unfortunately for them the teams with better records also reside in the West with Golden State being one of them. While they keep winning games Utah has been a money pit recently. On Monday they beat San Antonio by six points but they were favored by seven. It was their sixth straight ATS loss.
Following their emotional payout win over Phoenix on Christmas Day in a battle of the two best teams in the league, the Warriors had a letdown the next time out. In their worst offensive showing of the season the Dubs were upset at home by Denver 89-86. It was only the third time they scored fewer than 100 points in a game all season. After that loss the Warriors still had the best record at 27-7 while falling to 21-11-2 ATS. They are the best team defensively leading to the UNDER going 22-11.
Golden State Warriors
During their championship runs from a few seasons ago the Warriors were always a top offensive team. How could you not be with guys like Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson on the floor, but they were always underrated on defense. The Dubs can still fill it up with Curry leading the way. He’s second in the league averaging 27.7 points and the team scores nearly 111 points per night, seventh-best.
Their trademark this season, though, has been on the defensive end. They allow the fewest points in the league at 100.9 holding opponents to just 42.7 percent from the field. They own the best defensive rating in the NBA at 101.6. Even when they lose, which isn’t often, the defense keeps them in games. The Dubs trailed Denver by 24 points at halftime on Tuesday, but held the Nuggets to just 29 second half points. They came all the way back to tie the game only to succumb in the final minutes.
Utah Jazz
This will be the ultimate strength vs. strength matchup. While the Dubs have the best defense the Jazz are tops offensively. They average nearly 116 points and they are the second most accurate team shooting almost 48 percent from the field. Their offensive rating of 116.6 is four points higher than second-place Charlotte. There’s a chance leading scorer Donovan Mitchell doesn’t suit up. He sat out a few games with a back injury giving Joe Ingles a chance to start.
Utah isn’t too shabby on defense, either. Defending has been a strong part of their game under Quin Snyder and they’ve done a good job again this season holding opponents to just over 105 points per game. The X-factor in this game could be Rudy Gobert. The Warriors aren’t a big team and they’ve been exposed by athletic big men. Nikola Jokic scored 23 points with 18 boards on Tuesday. Clean the glass for second chances and don’t let the Dubs have another crack is a good way to beat them.
NBA Odds Pick
These teams lead the NBA in percentage of points on three-pointers, and they both take a lot of threes. Considering how well both teams play defense the total will be low giving value to the OVER. And with the Jazz being one of the best home teams the past few seasons it’s hard to overlook them on the spread.
NBA Odds Prediction: Jazz 115, Warriors 108
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
