The Utah Jazz (38-22) head out to Houston to face the Rockets (15-46), who are at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. While this game is an apparent mismatch, the Jazz can’t take the Rockets lightly, as they will want to show their hometown crowd that they won’t just give up on this game.
The Jazz are currently coming off a four-point win against the Phoenix Suns, who are at the top of the Western Conference and 10.5 games ahead of the Jazz. The Jazz are listed as -12.5 over the Rockets in this game.
Utah Looking to Get Third Straight Win
The Jazz come into this game relatively healthy, with point guard Jared Butler being the only listed player out against the Rockets. The Jazz also have looked good in their last ten games, winning eight out of those ten games and beating teams like the Suns, Warriors, and Mavericks. In the ten-game stretch, the Jazz have put up over 100 points in each of those games.
This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams this season, with the Jazz winning two of the three games they have already played. The one win that the Rockets got was only by five points, while the Jazz won their two games by over 30 points each game.
With the Jazz looking good on offense and the Rockets having a history of struggling against the Jazz, the advantage leans to the Jazz in this matchup.
Rockets Woes Continue As They Are On a Ten Game Skid
The Rockets dropped their tenth straight game in a losing effort at home against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets’ problems aren’t just with the games they are losing; it’s with the talent that they have that is injured currently.
The Rockets are missing guards John Wall and Kevin Porter Jr. While Porter’s injury is a day-to-day situation, the Rockets have lost Wall for the rest of the season.
These two players have been offensive bright spots for the Rockets, but that bright light has been put out for now. Without their offensive stars, it looks like the Rockets will be completely outgunned against a Jazz team that is hungry to climb in the standings.
The Rockets will have to rely on guard Jalen Green and forward Christian Wood, the current team leaders in average points scored per game, to fill the offensive void left with Porter and Wall being out.
Betting Prediction
While the Rockets have lost ten in a row, they have a couple of bright spots to look at with those losses. The Rockets were able to stay within three points against the Suns, the best team in the Western Conference, back on February 16th. The Rockets also had one other game that they only lost by one point.
Keeping games close, especially when looking at point spread betting on underdogs, can make a huge difference. So let’s take a look at some stats both teams have against the spread.
The Rockets are 21-34-1 against the spread when they are the underdog but 9-19 against the spread when playing at home. The Jazz are 25-29 against the spread as a favorite, but 12-10 against the spread as an away favorite.
Looking at the losing streak that the Rockets are on, along with the Jazz being the better team and having two 30 plus point wins already against the Rockets, everything favors the Jazz in this game.
Taking the Jazz at -12.5 points is the pick to play for this game.
