Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz 12/12/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-12 21:00:00 EDT
The Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz meet Saturday in preseason NBA action at the Vivint Smart Home Arena.
The Phoenix Suns went a perfect 8-0 in the bubble and can only hope that momentum carries over to this season. The Suns finally give Devin Booker some help with the addition of Chris Paul, and it’s going to be fun seeing those two work together. The Suns also have oodles of young talent who should be eager to take that next step. Those players include Deandre Ayton, Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Jevon Carter. The addition of Jae Citemder should also pay off for the Suns, as it provides a veteran voice in the locker room and a defensive first guy. The Suns ended last season on a high note and for the first time in years have legit playoff expectations. The Suns should be a fun team to watch this season and could be quite profitable as well.
The Utah Jazz are coming off a seven-game series loss to the Denver Nuggets where they blew a 3-1 lead. The Jazz bring back last years roster, so they have their rotation in place for the most part. The addition of Derrick Favors will certainly help the Jazz defensive issues when Rudy Gobert goes to the bench. We’ll get to see first round pick Udoka Azubuike for the first time as well. This preseason for the Jazz is finding and building depth, as we know what Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Joe Ingles brings to the table. Finding a potential diamond in the rough in either Elijah Hughes, Nigel Williams-Goss and Trent Forrest would go a long way to help the Jazz take that next step. The Jazz need somebody to take some of the scoring pressure off Mitchell.
The Suns are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 road games and 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The Jazz are 4-12-2 ATS in their last 18 home games and 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Suns are 4-10-1 ATS in the last 15 meetings in Utah and 2-5 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
The Phoenix Suns are riding a wave of momentum from the bubble and now have a legit point guard in CP3. For the first time in a while, there’s reason to feel good about the Suns and the positive vibes have to be flowing their locker room. The Utah Jazz are pretty much the same team from a year ago, and while it’s a solid club, they struggle to find consistent offense outside of Mitchell. The Suns should push the pace and will have a chance to win this outright.
Give me the Suns and the points.
