Miami Heat vs Utah Jazz Prediction, Preview and Odds - 12/31/2022

Game Time: 9:00 pm ET, Saturday, December 31, 2022

Venue:  Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

Where to Watch:  Sportsnet RM

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Heat +3.5, Jazz -3.5; Over/Under:  224 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Heat +3.5, Jazz -3.5; Over/Under:  224 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Heat +3.5, Jazz -3.5; Over/Under:  224 points

 

Miami Heat:  18-17 (1st place, Southeast Division)

Utah Jazz:  19-18 (3rd place, Northwest Division)

 

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Miami Heat:  7-3 last 10

Utah Jazz:  4-6 last 10

 

The Heat are coming into this game with an 18-17 record overall and they are 7-9 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They still have a game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night that needs to be played first as this is the 2nd leg of a back-to-back for them on Saturday. They are entering this game on a 2 game winning streak with wins coming against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers in their last game. Jimmy Butler led the team in points in that game with 27 while Bam Adebayo was next on the team with 23 points. Tyler Herro led the team in assists in that game with 9 while Bam Adebayo led the team in rebounds with 14. They were 47.8% from the field, 31.4% from 3-point range, and 81.3% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 108.2 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 108.9 PPG against them. The Heat have an ATS record of 12-21-2 this season and their O/U record is 17-18.

 

 

 

The Jazz are coming into this game with a 19-18 record overall and they are 12-5 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They still have a game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night that needs to be played first as this is the 2nd leg of a back-to-back for them on Saturday. They are entering this game on a 2 game losing streak with losses coming against the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors in their last game. Lauri Markkanen led the team in points in that game with 29 while Jordan Clarkson was next on the team with 22 points. Mike Conley Jr. led the team in assists in that game with 10 while Lauri Markkanen led the team in rebounds with 16. They were 40.7% from the field, 32.6% from 3-point range, and 69.2% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 116.9 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 116.1 PPG against them. The Jazz have an ATS record of 20-17 this season and their O/U record is 19-17-1.

The current betting odds have the Heat listed as a 3.5 point underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Heat haven't been having a great season this year but they are starting to turn things around as of late as they are getting hot with a few wins. They haven't been great in their road games but they have also been winning more games on the road lately and the Jazz haven't been anything special this year either. The Jazz started the season on a great run but they quickly came back down to Earth and are barely staying above .500 now. They have been a very good home team all season but the Heat are starting to get hot in all their games and the Heat have a lot more talent than the Jazz here. The Jazz traded away their 2 best players in the off-season and it has really hurt them this season as they struggle to stay competitive in the Western Conference. The Heat were the number 1 seed in the East last year and now that they are getting healthier they will be looking to turn things around. The best way to place a bet here is on the Heat to cover the spread in this game as they could win it outright.

 

Heat Jazz Prediction:  Our NBA Pick for Saturday, December 31, 2022 (9:00 pm ET start time) is Heat 117 Jazz 113.

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Miami Heat: 26-19 ATS as a road underdog. 18-10 ATS after 2 straight games committing 7+ less turnovers than opponents. 35-23 OVER when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days.

Utah Jazz: 12-19 ATS in December games. 17-24 ATS when playing 6 or less games in 14 days. 21-12 OVER on Saturday games.

 

 

Miami Heat:  N. Jovic (SF) Prob Fri - Back. J. Butler (PF) Prob Fri - Ankle. C. Martin (SF) Ques Fri - Ankle. G. Vincent (SG) Prob Fri - Knee. K. Lowry (PG) Prob Fri - Personal. D. Dedmon (C) Out Fri - Foot. U. Haslem (PF) Ques Fri - Achilles. O. Yurtseven (C) Mid Feb - Ankle.

Utah Jazz:  J. Juzang (SG) Early Jan - Wrist.

 

 

 

“Certainly, the ball control was a big positive tonight." - Erik Spoelstra after his team’s win against the Lakers in their game on Wednesday.

 

 

“I think we came into this year knowing we were going to be in a lot of close games. We weren’t going to be a team necessarily that was built to blow people out, so we needed to be clutch in those situations.” - Will Hardy after his team’s loss against the Spurs in their game on Monday.

 

 

 

PG Kyle Lowry 

SG Tyler Herro

SF Caleb Martin

PF Jimmy Butler 

C Bam Adebayo

 

PG Mike Conley

SG Jordan Clarkson

SF Lauri Markkanen

PF Jarred Vanderbilt

C Kelly Olynyk

 

 

PPG: J. Butler (22)

APG: K. Lowry (6)

Reb/G: B. Adebayo (9.9)

 

PPG: L. Markkanen (23.2)

APG: M. Conley (7.5)

Reb/G: L. Markkanen (8.4)

 

Coaches:

Miami Heat: Erik Spoelstra (15th season)

Utah Jazz: Will Hardy (1st season)