Utah Jazz at Oklahoma City Thunder 8/1/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-08-01 15:30:00 EDT
The Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder meet Saturday in NBA action at The Arena.
The Utah Jazz look for another victory after beating the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday in the first bubble regular season game. The Utah Jazz are averaging 111 points on 47.4 percent shooting and allowing 107.8 points on 45.2 percent shooting. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 24.1 points and 4.2 assists while Jordan Clarkson is averaging 15.8 points and 2.9 rebounds. Rudy Gobert is the third double-digit scorer and Mike Conley is dishing 4.3 assists. The Utah Jazz are shooting 38.1 percent from beyond the arc and 77.4 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 Oklahoma City Thunder entered the NBA break winning eight of their last 10 games. The Oklahoma City Thunder are averaging 110.8 points on 47.3 percent shooting and allowing 108.3 points on 45.6 percent shooting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 19.3 points and 6.1 rebounds while Danilo Gallinari is averaging 19.2 points and 2.1 assists. Dennis Schroder is the third double-digit scorer and Chris Paul is dishing 6.8 assists. The Oklahoma City Thunder are shooting 35.5 percent from beyond the arc and 79.7 percent from the free thitem line. The Oklahoma City Thunder are allowing 34.4 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 42.7 rebounds per game.
The Jazz are 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 Saturday games, 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games playing on 1 days rest and 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The Thunder are 15-6 ATS in their last 21 games following a ATS win and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 overall. The over is 5-1 in Thunder last 6 Saturday games. The Jazz are 5-13-1 ATS in the last 19 meetings in Oklahoma City and 1-7 ATS in the last 8 meetings.
With their win Thursday over the Pelicans, the Utah Jazz have now covered seven straight games as an underdog. I also like that the Jazz already have a regular season game out of the way to kind of get rid of the jitters and back in the swing of things. The Oklahoma City Thunder have surprised us all season long, but they’re also a team that’s far more attractive in the underdog role. Against a respectable Jazz club, I’m not thrilled about them laying the bucket. I’ll take my chances with the Jazz and the free points.
