Minnesota Timberwolves at Utah Jazz 12/26/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-26 21:00:00 EDT
The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz collide at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on Saturday night.
The Minnesota Timberwolves will be aiming for a second straight victory after making light work of the Pistons in a 111-101 home win on Wednesday. Malik Beasley led the team with 23 points on 10 of 18 shooting, Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists, D’Angelo Russell scored 18 points while Anthony Edwards chipped in with 15 points and four assists off the bench. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 43 percent from the field and 11 of 41 from the 3-point line as they struggled in the early going and found themselves trailing by as many as 14 points before rallying in the fourth quarter where they outscored the Pistons by 31-16 to run away with the win.
Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz will be looing to stay hot after blowing past the Trailblazers in a 120-100 road win on Wednesday. Rudy Gobert led the team with 20 points and 17 rebounds on eight of 10 shooting, Donovan Mitchell added 20 points with five assists, Mike Conley scored 18 points while Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson each scored 15 points. As a team, the Jazz shot 45 percent from the field and 19 of 50 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with 32 points in the first quarter, before holding the Trailblazers to just 19 points in the second quarter to lead by as many as 31 points before resting their starters.
Looking at the betting trends, the Timberwolves are 6-14 ATS in their last 20 games as an underdog and 8-20 ATS in their last 28 games overall. The Jazz are 0-3-1 ATS in their last four games against a team with a winning record, 6-0-1 ATS in their last seven games playing on two days rest and 1-3-1 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Utah, the Timberwolves are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings overall and the Timberwolves are 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings in Utah.
The Timberwolves will be feeling pretty good after they were able to snag their first win of the season behind big games from Beasley and Towns, but the Jazz look to be a team that has hit the ground running as they looked so impressive against the Trailblazers. The Timberwolves are 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings in Utah, but I really like what I saw from the Jazz on Wednesday and I think they can follow that up with another strong performance here. Give me the Jazz to pull away in the second half for the win and cover at home.
