NBA: Chicago Bulls VS Utah Jazz Pick and Predictions 11/28/2022

Game: 9:10 PM ET,  Monday, November 28th, 2022

Venue: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

Bulls: 8-11, 12th place Eastern Conference

Jazz: 12-10, 8th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Jazz -1.5; O/U 234.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Jazz -2; O/U 234

Fanduel: Point Spread: Jazz -1.5; O/U 233.5

Bulls: SF DeMar DeRozan, PF Patrick Williams, C Nikola Vucevic, SG Zach LaVine, PG Ayo Dosunmu

Jazz: SF Lauri Markkanen, PF Kelly Olynyk, C Jarred Vanderbilt, SG Jordan Clarkson, Pg Collin Sexton

An NBA inter conference matchup that holds a place of reverence for any sports fan that was alive and conscious in the 90’s.  Bulls versus Jazz is a time machine for most of us.  We marveled at these matchups knowing we were seeing history in motion… now, decades later, the faces, names, and importance have all changed… but still it is fun to watch the uniforms take the court.  The Chicago Bulls have been flirting with becoming a big time contender for the last couple of seasons… health has prevented them from fulfilling that flirtation. SF DeMar DeRozan has rebirthed his career in Chicago… Instead of a young,  wildly talented, overlooked Toronto Raptor, or wildly talented veteran contract and trade piece on the San Antonio Spurs, he is now the aging vet who has the best mid-range game in the NBA… and that mid-range game has made him a dark horse MVP candidate recently.  Of course you don’t win MVP if you don’t feature your game on a winning, or at least contending team,  the Bulls will need to turn a corner soon or DeMar will be too old to contribute at this level when they finally do. The Utah Jazz were pegged as an empty roster that would be “tanking” in order to get the #1 pick in the coming NBA draft (a VERY VALUABLE #1 pick) after trading away stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in the offseason.   However the Jazz came out of this gate swinging this year.  They minted new stars and rediscovered old ones.  SF Lauri Markkanen is a STAR in Utah, C Jarred Vanderbilt is fantastic while trying to fill the shoes of the departed Rudy Gobert, Guards Jordan Clarkson and Colin Sexton are very formidable scorers… old man PG Mike Conley has plenty of game left.  However… after reaching as high as first place in the Western Conference just a few games ago… a losing streak is plummeting them back into the middle.  The Jazz may have started GREAT but the season will soon become a grind especially for a handful of young players being led by a few role players and vets.  On a long enough timeline the Jazz may indeed wind up with plenty of ping pong balls in the draft lottery… but the fast start was fun to watch.

The Chicago Bulls lost their last game to the Oklahoma City Thunder 123 - 119 in overtime.  That should be as embarrassing as finding themselves in 12th place in the Eatsern Conference.  As usual quality guards Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball are stashed away on the injury list… wearing street clothes more often than team jerseys.  The remaining roster is fine… except they have mightily struggled to develop the young guys… PF Patrick Williams and bench SG Coby White are simply not as effective as their draft positions would imply and it has been a few years now.  PG Ayo Dosunmu gets plenty of minutes… but is seeming to have the effect a second year second round draft pick would be expected to… not much and not often.  C Nikola Vucevic has regressed since last season… averaging a little less in each statistical column… his back up C Andre Drummond would not be an improvement.  In the loss to the Thunder SF DeMar DeRozan had 30 points and SG Zach LaVine had 27 points… but with everyone else mostly having quiet nights it was all for naught.  

The Utah Jazz are on a 4-game losing streak.  When the streak started they were the #1 team in the Western Conference.. Right now they are the 8th place team, flirting with a .500 record if they just lose two more.  Now is the “leapfrog portion” of the 2022-23 season… with 9 Western Conference teams separated by ½ a game to 1 ½ games in the standings.  Every new NBA day will bring multiple teams moving up or down… the conference will straighten out by the halfway point of the season (game 42) before we know who has been real and who has been fugazzi. The Jazz’s last game was a heartbreaker 113-112 1 point loss to the Phoenix Suns. In that game guard Jordan Clarkson had 22 points, guard Colin Sexton had 20 points, and new star SF Lauri Markkanen had 15 points and 10 rebounds… but the supporting cast didn’t have much to add to the equation.  Rookie 7’3 Center Walker Kessler is in an odd place where he is averaging 5 points,  5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 16 minutes a night… He is a cornerstone of the future… They may want to give him 20-25 minutes a night to secure more development.

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CHI: 8-11, 9-9-1 ATS, 8-11 O/U, 3-6 on the road.

UTA: 12-10, 13-9 ATS, 12-10 O/U, 6-2 in home games.

The Bulls are 16th in scoring with 111.9 points per game, 19th in rebounds with 43.1 per game, 20th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6, and 10th in blocks per game with 5.5.

The Jazz are 4th in scoring with 117.1 points per game, 15th in rebounds with 43.9 per game, 12th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7, 17th in blocked shots with 5.0

Our prediction for Monday, November 28th is…. Jazz 116 - Bulls 109

Bet on the Jazz.  They will break their losing streak and the Bulls are the best chance to do it at the moment.  The Bulls present an easy defensive assignment for most teams… stay on DeMar DeRozan.  That is the game plan.  If Zach LaVine goes off for big points… it will come with a lot of missed shots… That is his gunner’s nature.  

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(will update)

Bulls: PF Patrick Williams.  Patrick was a very exciting promise waiting all of last season on the injury list.  A big, athletic kid… taken very high in the draft.  The thinking was that when he debuted the team would go on tear across the league.  Mr Williams has been underwhelming.  He either needs more seasoning, more coaching, or more confidence… but something is causing him to simply not affect any of the games he plays in.  

Jazz: C Jarred Vanderbilt.  Jarred was the back-up power forward last year… sometimes starter.  He seems to have flourished at the Center position at first… then has regressed a bit.  He is a quality NBA player… the Jazz ought to consider moving him back and forth between Center and Power Forward.. To prevent teams from being able to prepare for him.  He could start with Walker Kessler at Center OR he could start with Kelly Olynyk at Power Forward and the team could go back and forth with those combinations to keep everyone else on their toes.

Bulls: Billy “remember my college Championships?” Donovan

Jazz: Will “gets carded at every bar” Hardy