NBA Basketball: Portland Trail Blazers VS Utah Jazz Pick and Predictions 03/22/2023

Game: 9:10 PM ET, Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023

Venue: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah

TV:  NBA League Pass

Blazers: 31-40, 13th place Western Conference

Jazz: 35-36, 10th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Jazz -5.5, O/U 234.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Jazz -5.5, O/U 234.5

Fanduel: Point Spread:  Jazz -5, O/U 235

Blazers: PG Damian Lilliard, SG Anfernee Simons, SF Matisse Thybulle, PF Kevin Know II, C Jusuf Nurkic

Jazz: PG Chris Dunn, SG Talen Horton Tucker, SF Lauri Markkanen, PF Kelly Olynyk, C Walker Kessler

A Western Conference oddity.  Both teams have clearly reached the “tank” stage.. But you can’t tell the best players that.  Jazz SF Lauri Markkanen plays hard and is loving life as a new found star… Jazz rookie C Walker Kessler blocks everything that gets near him and is loving his new found local stardom… Meanwhile Blazers PG Damian Lilliard is one of the deadliest competitors to step onto an NBA court EVER. Even though Damian is on a bad team… he personally will drop HUGE games and put his bad team in a position to win if only a few others could carry their weight (they often can’t).  To make matters worse the Blazers will be missing SG Anfernee Simons, PF Jerami Grant, and backup PF Nassir Little (did I mention they were tanking without Lilliard’s consent?).... The result will be a matchup that is played hard by both sides… but the Jazz will have more firepower everywhere except point guard. The great betting opportunity here is in deciding whether a big game from Damian can overcome this 5.5 point, point spread?

The Portland Trail Blazers have won only 2 of their last 10 games.  They are on a monstrously bad 6-game losing streak. They went 3-7 ATS during that stretch.  They lost their last game to the Los Angeles Clippers 117-102.  In the loss they got 21 points & 9 assists from PG Damian Lilliard and 23 points & 11 rebounds from the often injured C Jusuf Nurkic.. The role players cruised along taking what the Clippers gave them as they are really just trying out for their spot for next year anyway. SF Cam Reddish is still making a very hard case that he should not even be in this league… After failing in Atlanta and then failing in New York… he is now registering a statline of 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 0 assists in 19 minutes of play as a starter before he got the hook.  He really should be playing overseas in a year or two.

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Our prediction for Wednesday, March 22nd is….  Jazz 117 - Blazers 104

Bet on the Jazz… The Blazers don’t have much of a squad.  Plus they are missing what they do have except for Lilliard.  Expect a Jazz blowout.

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The Blazers are 15-22 ATS as an underdog this season.

The Jazz are 2-10 ATS as a home favorite of 6 points or less this season.

Blazers: PG Damian Lilliard.  Damian is a wonder.  So great, so loyal… so willing to be forgotten in the sands of time.  He won’t finish his career with a ring if he stays in Portland.  That much is very sure.  And he won’t demand a trade… he has proclaimed as much… so just watch him when you can and enjoy.  That is all we get from Damian.

Jazz: C Walker Kessler.  Walker was the 4th center taken in last season’s draft… He was taken at #22 behind Chet Holmgren, Jalen Duran (his college teammate), and Mark Willams.. He is better than all three (Chet missed the whole season due to injury).  He plays, he rebounds, he blocks shots like the 7’3 monster that he is… He also enjoys it all.  Enjoying it is a big deal for a rookie.  It could motivate them to make it to the weight room and the voluntary workouts… and for the next decade enjoying your rookie season always pays off.

Blazers: Chauncey “Get me a team!” Billups

Jazz: Will “hardly” Hardy