Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 4/8/21
2021-04-08 22:00:00 EDT
The Portland Trailblazers pay a visit to the Utah Jazz at the Vivint Arena on Thursday night.
The Portland Trailblazers have been in fine form lately as they’ve won five of their last seven games, but they will be eager to bounce back after getting routed by the Clippers in a 133-116 road loss on Tuesday. Norman Powell led the team with 32 points on eight of 18 shooting, CJ McCollum added 24 points with six assists while Robert Covington chipped in with 15 points. As a team, the Trailblazers shot just 40 percent from the field and 11 of 36 from the 3-point line, but they allowed 47 points in the first quarter and needed more from Damian Lillard who struggled and finished with just 11 points on two of 14 shooting and Carmelo Anthony who scored just eight points on two of 10 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz have been in great form lately as they’ve won 10 of their past 13 games, but they will be hoping to avoid a third straight defeat after falling just short to the Suns in a 117-113 overtime road loss on Wednesday. Donovan Mitchell led the team with 41 points on 16 of 35 shooting, Bojan Bogdanovic added 20 points while Rudy Gobert chipped in with 16 points and 18 rebounds. As a team, the Jazz shot 44 percent from the field and just 11 of 44 from the 3-point line as they fought hard to rally back from a 13-point deficit, only to go cold in overtime where the Suns opened with a 7-2 run to escape with the win.
Looking at the betting trends, the Trailblazers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games as an underdog, 0-4 ATS in their last four games against a team with a winning record and 5-2 ATS in their last seven games as a road underdog. The Jazz are 20-8 ATS in their last 28 home games, 6-1 ATS in their last seven games playing on zero days’ rest and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a winning record.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall.
The Trailblazers will be eager to bounce back after getting blown out by the Clippers, especially Lillard who won’t be happy after playing probably his worst game of the season. The Jazz were rolling before dropping their last two games and it’s been their 3-point shooting that has cooled off lately. I like the Jazz to get the win in this one, but they’re playing on zero days’ rest, so I’m leaning towards the Trailblazers and the points in what should be a close one.
