Utah Jazz (1-0) vs. Sacramento Kings (1-0)
October 22, 2021 10:00 pm EDT
The Line: Sacramento Kings +5.5; Over/Under: -225.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Utah Jazz invade the Golden 1 Center to do battle with the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
The Utah Jazz will be eager to stay hot after blowing past the young Thunder in a 107-86 home win on Wednesday. Bojan Bogdanovic led the team in scoring with 22 points on 10 of 17 shooting, Rudy Gobert added 16 points with 21 rebounds while Jordan Clarkson chipped in with 18 points off the bench. As a team, the Jazz shot just 44 percent from the field and 14 of 47 from the 3-point line which isn’t impressive, but their defense kept them in complete control for the entire game after holding the Thunder to just 18 points in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings will be aiming for a second straight win to start the season after sneaking past the Trailblazers in a 124-121 road win on Wednesday. Harrison Barnes drained eight 3-pointers to lead the team with 36 points, De’Aaron Fox added 27 points with eight assists while Richaun Holmes chipped in with 21 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks on nine of 10 shooting. As a team, the Kings shot 45 percent from the field and 17 of 41 from the 3-point line as they dominated most of the game to lead by as many as 18 points, before escaping with the narrow win as the Trailblazers’ Damian Lillard missed on the potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Looking at the betting trends, the Jazz are 0-4 ATS in their last four games against a team with a winning record, 5-1 ATS in their last six games following a win of more than 10 points and 4-1 ATS in their last five games as a road favorite.
Head to head, the Jazz are 4-0 ATS in the last four meetings overall.
The Jazz put together a typical defensive performance which was more than enough to get past the lowly Thunder on Wednesday, but now they’re up against a Kings team who just beat the Trailblazers on the road. Barnes, Fox and Holmes were all fantastic on Wednesday, but I don’t see them putting up near those numbers against the elite defense of the Jazz. I’m not going to overreact to the Kings’ win over the Trailblazers, so I’m sticking with the Jazz who are 4-0 ATS in the last four meetings overall.
