Blazers vs. Jazz Prediction
The Christmas Day NBA schedule closes out with the Utah Jazz playing host to the Portland Trail Blazers at 10:30PM ET. Which team has the edge in this matchup?
565 Portland Trail Blazers at 566 Utah Jazz
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
10:30PM ET – Vivint Smart Home Arena
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Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers at BetNow.eu, the Jazz are favored at home in this game, as they are getting odds of -6.5 points against the Blazers. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 213.5 points. The public betting for this game currently has 51 percent going on the Jazz on the road. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our NBA Public Betting Page for updated figures on the game.
Blazers heating up
The Blazers have won four of their last five games following a 121-118 OT win over the Mavericks at home on Sunday. Portland is 19-14 on the season, 6-9 on the road, 16-17 against the spread and 17-16 with the over.
Portland is right in the middle in terms of offense and defense. The Blazers are putting up 111.4 points per game this season while giving up 110.7 per contest. One area the team does struggle is 3-point defense, as opponents shoot 37.7 percent from the arc against them. Damian Lillard has been leading the team this year with 27.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. CJ McCollum is adding 21.3 points per contest.
Jazz can’t get on track
The Utah Jazz can’t seem to sustain a winning streak, as they are coming off a 107-106 loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday to snap a two-game win streak. Utah is now 16-18 on the season, 6-7 at home, 16-17-1 against the spread and 17-17 with the over/under total.
Utah is playing pretty well on defense this season, allowing 105.9 points per game while the offense puts up just 106.9 per contest. Utah is one of the worst shooting teams from behind the arc, hitting just 34 percent of their 3-point attempts. Donovan Mitchell is leading the team with 20.2 points per game while Rudy Gobert is adding 14.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per contest.
NBA Betting Trends
Portland
The Blazers are 1-7 against the spread in their last eight road games and 4-11 against the spread in their last 15 conference games.
Utah
The Jazz are 4-1 against the spread in their last five at home and 5-2 ATS in their last seven Tuesday games.
Prediction:
Utah just earned a dominant 120-90 win over the Blazers in Portland on Friday, but it’s been hard to trust the Jazz when it comes to consistency. Still, I think Portland provides a favorable matchup for them, as the Jazz have a counter to all of Portland’s top players. The Blazers’ inability to stop outside shooting could be the difference tonight, as Utah should see an uptick in their scoring and that will allow them to roll on to the victory.
NBA Prediction: Utah Jazz -6.5