Two teams not heading to the postseason in the National Basketball Association square off on Thursday. The Houston Rockets are on the road at the Utah Jazz. Houston is 39-40 on the season, and have a chance to get back to .500 here. Houston is coming off a 12 point win at home over the Orlando Magic. The Rockets will finish 11th in the Western Conference.
For Utah, they are 29-50. They are two games ahead of 13th Memphis. The Jazz have dropped 13 straight games. Utah is coming off a loss at home to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
The Houston Rockets are -3.5 in this game on the road. The total is 226.
Houston Looking to Finish Strong
It was a solid effort by the Houston Rockets, with their red hot streak of basketball in March. The Rockets put a scare into the Warriors before eventually falling off and out of contention. The Rockets can still finish above .500. Houston is on the road at the Trail Blazers on Friday, and finishes at the Clippers on Sunday.
Houston saw a monster game from former Wichita State star Fred VanVleet in the win over Orlando. He scored 37 points and recorded 8 rebounds in the game. Jabari Smith was strong for the Rockets as well, with 23 points and 7 rebounds.
Houston is 16th in the league in scoring with 114.2 points per game. The Rockets are fourth in rebounding, as they are ripping down more than 45 per game. The Rockets though are one of the worst shooting teams, making under 46% from the field.
Things are Tough for Utah
The last time the Utah Jazz won a basketball game was March 15th at home against the Atlanta Hawks. Since then things have been ugly. In their last five games, the Jazz have lost by an average of 22.5 points per game. The most recent was by 16 at home to the Denver Nuggets.
Lauri Markkanen is the top scorer for the Jazz, but it appears he is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. He played in 55 games, with his final coming on March 27th against the Spurs. With Markkanen out, and Collin Sexton missing Tuesday’s game with an illness, and Jordan Clarkson and John Collins out with a back injury, the Jazz are scraping for offense. Those guys are all questionable for this game.
Utah is set to finish their 2024 portion of the season on the road. The Jazz are at the Clippers on Thursday, and will head to Golden State on Sunday to battle the Warriors.
Jazz Get Smoked at Home
The Utah Jazz may not win another game this season. They do not look competitive and do not have much reason to win another. Houston would love to end strong, and potentially finish the season over .500.
For a team that started as slow as Houston, that is a big accomplishment. The Houston Rockets are going to win this game on the road. Take Houston -3.5 over Utah on Thursday.
