Phoenix Suns vs. Utah Jazz 7/23/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-07-23 20:00:00 EDT
The Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz meet Thursday in NBA preseason action at the HP Field House.
The Phoenix Suns look for a win after losing five of their last seven games before the break. The Phoenix Suns are averaging 112.6 points on 46.4 percent shooting and allowing 113.9 points on 47.5 percent shooting. Devin Booker is averaging 26.1 points and 6.6 assists while Deandre Ayton is averaging 19 points and 12 rebounds. Kelly Oubre Jr. is the third double-digit scorer and Ricky Rubio is dishing 8.9 assists. The Phoenix Suns are shooting 35.3 percent from beyond the arc and 82.6 percent from the free thitem line. The Phoenix Suns are allowing 36.8 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 43.1 rebounds per game.
The Utah Jazz entered the NBA hiatus winning five of their last six games. The Utah Jazz are averaging 111 points on 47.5 percent shooting and allowing 107.9 points on 45.2 percent shooting. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 24.2 points and 4.2 assists while Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging 20.2 points and 4.1 rebounds. Jordan Clarkson is the third double-digit scorer and Rudy Gobert is grabbing 13.7 rebounds. The Utah Jazz are shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc and 77.2 percent from the free thitem line. The Utah Jazz are allowing 35.1 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.1 rebounds per game.
The Utah Jazz are obviously the more talented team in this matchup and blew the doors off the Suns in the last meeting, but they’re also a team that will be without one of their top scorers in Bogdanovic. The Utah Jazz were already a team that struggled at times finding consistent half court offense and could go long stretches without scoring, so losing their second best scorer and a guy who spreads the floor is a big loss. The Phoenix Suns issues don’t need to be explained, as they’re not a great basketball team overall, but they can fill it up offensively and are a young group that wants to push the pace. The Suns also have a lot of guys who are used to playing in empty arenas due to coming up in the G League.
I’ll back the Suns in this preseason contest.
