Portland Trail Blazers (25-39) at Utah Jazz (40-24)
Wednesday, March 9th, Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT
How to Watch
- 10:00 ET on ESPN
Betting Lines
- UTAH -18.0 (Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel) UTAH -17.5 (BetMGM)
- O/U 221.5 (Caesars, FanDuel, BetMGM) 221 (DraftKings)
- Portland: 25-38-1 ATS, 10-19-1 ATS on the road, 30-33-1 O/U
- Utah: 27-36-1 ATS, 13-19 ATS at home, 30-33-1 O/U
Recent Play (last 10 games):
- Blazers: 4-6; 103.8 PG, 43.4 RPG, 22.4 APG, 8.3 SPG, and 3.6 BPG, while shooting 41.7% from the field and allowing 118.2 points.
- Jazz: 7-3; 113.4 PPG, 47.5 RPG, 24.0 APG, 7.9 SPG, and 4.9 BPG, while shooting 47.1% from the field and allowing 107.9 points per game
Key Injuries
- Anfernee Simons; POR, SG: Questionable (Quad) Was injured Saturday and missed Monday’s game
- Eric Bledsoe; POR, PG: Out (Achilles) Has yet to play for the Trailblazers
- Justise Winslow; POR, SF: Doubtful (Achilles) Has missed four straight games
Matchup
This game should not be particularly close, especially if Anfernee Simons isn’t able to suit up for Portland. Since C.J. McCullom was traded away and Damian Lillard was ruled out for the season, it’s been clear that this is a rebuilding season for Portland. Nowhere is that more visible on the defensive end, where Portland has lost five straight while allowing over 120 points in each of those contests. They’re currently ranked 28th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, which should be a major problem since Utah is the most efficient offense in the league.
The Jazz are third in the NBA in points scored, seventh in 3PT%, and first in the NBA in three-pointers made per game at 14.6. So even though they don’t play at a particularly fast pace, they have no problem putting up points in bunches. Portland is also 29th in the league in 3PT% allowed and allows the 28th-most threes per game, so Utah should be able to launch from deep at will tonight.
Unfortunately, it won’t be easier for Portland on the other end. Utah is 10th in defensive efficiency, while Portland is 28th in offensive efficiency. The Jazz also ranks 4th in the NBA in defensive rebounds per game, while the Blazers are middle of the pack in terms of offensive rebounding rate, so second-chance points shouldn’t be easy to come by. Considering Portland is 25th in FG% and 17th in 3PT%, they will have to shoot way above their averages to have a chance tonight.
One favor in factor of the over here is that both teams are middle of the pack in terms of turnovers, so there could be stretches where this gets sloppy and leads to a few easy buckets in either direction. Aside from that, the Jazz should roll, but games that are this much of a mismatch are often tough for betting purposes because blowouts usually mean starters see a lot of time on the bench, which can lead to backdoor covers and tough prop covers.
For more NBA betting tips like this Blazers-Jazz preview, click here
Popular Player Props:
(These are the most popular props for the game as of this writing. They are not predictions or recommendations. We advise doing your own research before placing bets on any props mentioned.)
- Bogdan Bogdanovic, F Utah: Over 16.5 points (-135)
- Bogdanovic has gone over this in eight of his last ten games and might see some extra scoring opportunities tonight if the Jazz rest Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert more than normal in a game that might not be close.
- Mike Conley, G, Utah: Over 1.5 Threes
- We already discussed above that the Jazz should have a large advantage from behind the three-point line tonight. Conley has only hit this mark in seven of his last ten games, so it’s easy to see the optimism here.
