Spurs vs. Jazz Pick
The Utah Jazz need a win at home tonight in hopes to have home court for the start of the playoffs when they host the San Antonio Spurs at 9PM ET.
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Jazz are favored at home tonight, as they are getting odds of -4 points against the Spurs. The over/under total for the game is listed at 192 points. San Antonio has won and covered the spread in two of three meetings with Utah this season.
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Utah has won three of its last four games to get to 50-31 on the season. The Jazz are tied with the L.A. Clippers for the fourth seed in the West, but the Clippers have the tiebreaker. Utah has to win tonight and get a Clippers loss to the Kings for them to have the home-court advantage in their first-round series. Utah is 36-42-3 against the spread this season and the Jazz are average 104 points per game over their last five while allowing 101.8 per game in their last five. Gordon Hayward is averaging 22 points and 5.4 rebounds per game to lead the team.
The Spurs are kind of struggling, losing three of their last four games to fall to 61-20 on the season. San Antonio is locked into the second seed in the West, but coach Gregg Popovich expressed that his team wouldn’t be resting in these final games. The Spurs are 41-39-1 against the spread this season, but over their last five games they are averaging just 95.4 points per game on offense. Kawhi Leonard is leading the team with 25.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
The Spurs may not be resting, but there is still a lack of competitiveness when knowing you have nothing to gain by winning. The Jazz do have something to play for and should leave it all on the floor. Being at home, Utah is 28-12 this season and the Jazz have the defense to lock down this struggling San Antonio offense.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: UTAH JAZZ -4