NBA preview and tips: Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz
- George Dempsey
- 6 April 2023
The Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder will do battle on Thursday night with both sides in close contention for the final play-in spot.
It isn't impossible for Utah to make the play-in tournament, but it won't be easy. They need to win their three remaining games, including this one, while OKC must go winless in theirs.
It seems a tall task when you consider the amount of talent on the injury list for the Jazz, but rookie Ochai Agbaji scored 22 points against the Lakers, whilst Horton-Tucker and Olynk contributed 23.
As well as being down their scorers, the Jazz have lost their biggest defensive contributors. That's led to high-scoring games in recent weeks, and this meeting with the trigger-happy Thunder could be another.
Utah are now allowing 118 points per game at home, but they're still scoring. Their 135-133 loss to the Lakers was a heartbreaker, and the Bucks recently ran out 144-116 winners here.
Despite that leaky defence, Utah can keep this one competitive. They're a solid 19-7 ATS as an underdog this season, and while they do have injuries to contend with, that's been considered in setting the spread at +6.
Oklahoma can cover big numbers with the way they score, but they're also very, very poor defensively, allowing 118 points per game on their travels. They're all action, offence first, and play at the second fastest pace in the NBA.
The over is 19-6 when Utah are an underdog, and also 8-2 on the back of an ATS win. The over is 11-5 when the Thunder are a favourite of 5-10.5 points, and the last three meetings have averaged 240 points.
The Thunder might have one of the best ATS records in the league, but few teams are an underdog as often as them.
It's a different scenario when they're asked to cover a big number as a favourite and we aren't ready to trust them, making Utah +6 a reasonable play.
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Team News
Jordan Clarkson, Colin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Rudy Gay, and Walker Kessler are all missing for Utah.
Luguentz Dort is a game-time decision for the Thunder.
