Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz Predictions 1/1/22

Golden State Warriors (27-7 SU, 21-11-2 ATS) vs. Utah Jazz (26-9 SU, 17-18 ATS)
When: Saturday January 01 2022, 09:00 PM (ET)
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena: Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: NBA TV

Point Spread: GSW 4.0/UTA -4.0 (Opened at -4.5 at WagerWeb)
Total: 221.5 (Opened at 221.5)
Money Line: Golden State +173/Utah -210)
Power Rating: UTA -5.5

Key Injuries

Warriors Draymond Green: illness (OUT) Damion Lee: illness (OUT) Klay Thompson: knee (QUESTIONABLE) James Wiseman: knee (OUT)

Jazz Udoka Azubuike: ankle (OUT) Jared Butler: knee (OUT) Mike Conley: rest (OUT) Malik Fitts: shoulder (OUT) Elijah Hughes: illness (OUT) Donovan Mitchell: back (QUESTIONABLE) Eric Paschall: personal (OUT)

Recent Form

The Golden State Warriors enter today’s game, having won seven of their past ten games. When playing away from home, the Warriors are an above .500 team, having gone 11-4. As the road team, Golden State travels to Utah with a positive plus-minus of rating of 4.1 points. Overall, the Warriors are ranked 2nd among NBA teams in point differential (0.9). Among NBA teams, they have played the 17th toughest schedule.

For bettors, taking the Golden State Warriors to cover the spread has been a winning bet as they have covered in 65.60% of their games. Their season-long plus-minus against the spread is 4.4.

On offense, the team’s leading scorer is PG Stephen Curry. So far, Curry is averaging 27.72 points per game. This output places him 1st among point guards. So far, Curry is connecting on 5.38 shots from downtown per game. Draymond Green has been in charge of cleaning up the glass, hauling in 7.94 boards per game.

The Utah Jazz enter today’s game, having won six straight games. In their past ten contests, the Jazz’s have played at an above .500 rate, going 8-2. As they get set to host the Warriors, Utah has a positive home plus-minus of 9.3 points. Overall, the Jazz are ranked 1st among NBA teams in point differential (7.9). This figure has come while playing the 4th easiest schedule.

For bettors, taking the Utah Jazz to cover the spread has been a losing bet as they have covered in 48.60% of their games. Their season-long plus-minus against the spread is 1.3.

On offense, the team’s leading scorer is SG Donovan Mitchell. So far, Mitchell is averaging 25.39 points per game while hitting 3.16 three-pointers per game. Rudy Gobert has been in charge of cleaning up the glass, hauling in 14.85 boards per game.

An Eye On Pace

Heading into tonight’s game, the Golden State Warriors are ranked 13th in possessions per game (98.5). Despiting sitting in the middle of the pack, they are ranked 3rd in three-point attempts, hoisting over 40 shots per game from outside. On the other side, Utah is also heavily reliant on the three-point shot, ranking 1st in attempts. Overall the team comes in at 18th in pace.

Key Matchups

In a matchup between two of the league’s best teams, look for defense to be the deciding factor in what should be an exciting game. Through 34 games, Golden State is the top-ranked scoring defense, giving up just 100.9 points per game. Even though Utah is not far behind, ranking 3rd, they give up seven more points per contest.

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The Historicals

Tonight’s game between the Warriors and Jazz will be their first meeting of the season. Last year, Golden State picked up a win in 2 of their three matchups.

How the Public is Betting the Warriors vs. Jazz

65% are betting the Jazz against the spread.
55% are wagering on the game to go Over the posted total of 220.5

Betting Trends Worth Noting

The total has gone OVER in five of Golden State’s last five games when playing Utah. Golden State is 4-1 SU in its last five games on the road The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah’s last five games when playing Golden State

Joe’s Pick To Cover The Spread

To kick off the new year, we are treated to an outstanding matchup between the Western Conference leading Warriors and Utah Jazz. Coming into the game, Utah sits just 1.5 games behind Golden State in what is sure to be a tightly contested race. Even though Draymond Green doesn’t always stand out in the box score, Golden State relies on him on the defensive end of the floor. Look Utah to take care of business at home and move closer to the Warriors in the standings.

Prop Bets Worth Wagering

My favorite prop of the night of the night is to take Steph Curry to have a big game scoring the ball. Utah will be playing on back-to-back nights, with their top players each playing big minutes. Even though Donovan Mitchell played vs. the Timberwolves, he comes into this game listed as questionable.