Atlanta Hawks vs. Utah Jazz: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/3/2023

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

Where to watch: ATTSN-RM, BSSE-ATL

DraftKings: Jazz -1.5

FanDuel: Jazz -1.5

BetMGM: Jazz -1.5

Caesars: Jazz -1.5

Hawks: 26-26

Jazz: 27-26

The All-Stars have been announced, the trade deadline is days away, and the NBA season has never seen so much parity and intrigue than it has at this moment. All you need to do is look at the Western Conference and laugh with a hearty burst at how ridiculous this season has been. You know what's not ridiculous? Our champion handicappers continuing to kill it on the NBA level over the last 30 days. All you need to do is take one look at what they're doing and see that this is the place to be as we purge through the second half of the season. Doc's Sports has been tremendous over the last month with a 17-8-0 run and net profit of $8,100. Team Del Genio has also been very good at an 11-6-1 run that has made for some very exciting runs near to the top. Basketball is taking full swing with football about to be set on the back burner, and you want to be locked in at bigal.com. Take advantage of our Best Bets page at bigal.com to see what our champion handicappers bring to the table. Make sure you're following winners at bigal.com and get that same kind of money in your pocket.

Hawks: won 132-100 at Suns

Jazz: won 131-128 vs. Hawks

I'm not sure if anyone had these teams sitting at 500 or even a game over 500 this year, but the Atlanta Hawks should be better than what they are. The Utah Jazz on the other hand, are still exceeding expectations and are getting rewarded by having an All Star in their own building this year. But when these two teams face off on Friday at Vivint arena in Salt Lake City, this is going to be a game of which team is actually better suited going into the second-half of the season.

 

Think about it from the standpoint. Atlanta has been mostly disappointing this year from the standpoint of they went out and made a big trade to add another piece with John Collins and Trae Young, and so far they are only sitting at 26-26 with no real signs of improvement coming.

 

Because you see games like Wednesday night in phoenix when the Hawks absolutely demolish the Phoenix Suns 132-100 in what was an absolute demolition. You watch that game and you wonder how in the world Atlantic isn't where it should be. Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 21 points and eight assists, while young had 20 points and 12 assists in what was an absolute offensive clinic by Atlanta. They shot 57% from the field and shot 19 of 33 from 3 point range.

 

“We wanted to win really bad and knew it had to start on the defensive end,” Murray said. “The defense took care of the offense.”

 

That is the kind of Atlanta team that I think everyone anticipated to play at the beginning of the year. Now that that is not the case, are the Hawks legit enough to contend in the Eastern Conference during the second-half of the season and do they need to make a trade? A lot of questions remain right now with Atlanta and right now they are in the middle of wondering if they actually need to buy or sell at the trade deadline. And it's quite interesting.

 

Utah has won three of its last four and is coming off probably one of their more exciting wins of the season when they defeated the Toronto Raptors 131-128 at home on Wednesday. Lauri Markkanen, who was named an All Star for the first time in his career on Thursday, had 28 points and 13 rebounds in what has been an incredible renaissance and revival in the career of the former lottery pick.

 

Jordan Clarkson chipped in with 23 points and made five threes, and Mike Conley remembered how to play basketball with 19 points and eight assists.

 

“Taking my time, having a little more patience, not just going right away and being a little bit stronger with the ball,” said Markkanen of finishing strong against the physical Raptors after a slow start.

 

The Jazz have won seven of their last ten outright but have also covered in seven of their last 10, including three of their last four in which they covered and won. Utah was favored in each of those games, including getting to lay 2 1/2 against Toronto and covering by 1/2 point. Utah is capable of winning an Emmy multitude of ways and so far it's actually proving very fruitful that they are as well as they are. Despite the fact that they are favored so much.

 

The altitude in Utah is never a friendly confine and I wouldn't be shocked if Atlanta struggled a little bit in terms of the actual elements in this game. There is just something about this Utah team that makes no sense but they are so fun to watch and they are so fun to bet on right now. Jazz 121, Hawks 116

Hawks are 12-16 ATS on the road this season.

Hawks are 6-12 ATS on the road when the line is +3 to -3 this season.

Jazz are 2-8 ATS as a home favorite of 6 or less this season.

Jazz are 17-5 ATS in February the last 3 seasons.

PG: Trae Young

SG: Dejounte Murray

SF: De’Andre Hunter

PF: John Collins

C: Clint Capela

PG: Mike Conley

SG: Jordan Clarkson

SF: Lauri Markkanen

PF: Rudy Gay

C: Walker Kessler

Points: Trae Young -- 27.0

Rebounds: John Collins -- 7.6

Assists: Trae Young -- 9.9

Points: Lauri Markkanen -- 24.9

Rebounds: Lauri Markkanen -- 8.7

Assists: Mike Conley -- 7.6