Utah Jazz vs. Phoenix Suns Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/27/2022

Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ

Where to watch: ABC

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Jazz: 37-22

Suns: 49-11

This is what I envision when you look for a matchup in the playoffs that could just blow your socks off. And there is a legitimate possibility that the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns could meet each other in the second round of the playoffs at some point. Whether it be this year or next year, it could happen.

And I absolutely want to take advantage of the fact that both Utah and phoenix are playing extremely well right now, mostly the latter just blowing everyone out of the water, but Utah as well. Because we have not talked about Utah enough to the point where it is still considered a contender, but it did not help that Donovan Mitchell missed time due to concussion protocol, Rudy Gobert missed time due to injury, and so on and so forth.

But the Jazz are coming off a 114- 109 victory against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday in Salt Lake City. If we're talking about playoff previews, Utah and Dallas might be one that we hope to get as a first-round matchup the way this game unfolded.

Mitchell hit a career-high 7 3 pointers and had 33 points in Utah's come from behind victory over Dallas on Friday. Utah actually trailed at halftime and Dallas made it shots surprisingly to keep things interesting, but Utah's defense eventually pulled away and stifled Luca Doncic and company in the victory.

Utah has now won seven of its last eight, with the only loss being a five-point shocker against the struggling Los Angeles Lakers back on February 16th before the All-Star break. Other than that, with a fully healthy Utah team this squad has the capability to be extremely dangerous come playoff time period it might not be able to defeat the likes of Phoenix, Memphis, or Golden State at this moment, but there is a lot to like with this group when it is fully healthy especially when Mitchell is torching defenses by scoring at least 30 points in four of his last six games.

And of course there's a lot to like from the other side the team that made the NBA Finals last season. And if there was any hope or concern of a let down 4 phoenix, Chris Paul and Devin Booker say hello. Unfortunately for the sons, the former of that group is going to be out for a little bit. Paul has an injured thumb that will keep him out for at least a month maybe even longer, but that does not appear to be slowing down phoenix in its attempt to get back to the NBA Finals.

The Suns are 49- 11 with 22 games to go in the regular season, and the culture of phoenix has changed drastically to the point where we fully believe that Booker and Deandre Ayton and will surely carry this group well into a strong playoff run.

But Phoenix is coming off a 117- 102 loss on Friday to the New Orleans Pelicans, with phoenix playing on the second night of a back to back. Booker did finish with 30 points on 10 of 24 shooting and Ayton 20 points and five rebounds, but New Orleans just killed phoenix on the glass 53- 37 and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds against Phoenix very talented frontcourt.

You can chalk that up to phoenix being too tired and just not wanting to play a game against the likes of a struggling New Orleans team, but at least for the time being the Suns figured out what the tweaks need to be in order to survive without Paul for the next little while.

It's definitely going to be tough for the Suns too at least look like they're operating on all cylinders without their star point guard, but I think given the homecourt advantage, I like where phoenix is at going into this game. I think the Suns have the capability to bounce back after a lackluster effort they got a day off and now they're ready to come back onto the floor and handle business against a very good Utah team. Suns by 8

The Jazz are 27-13 ATS after covering five or six of their last seven.

The Jazz are 35-23 ATS when playing their second game in five days.

The Suns are 28-11 ATS as a home favorite of 6 points or less.

The Suns are 51-26 ATS after winning two of three.

PG: Mike Conley

SG: Donovan Mitchell

SF: Bojan Bogdanovic

PF: Royce O'Neale

C: Rudy Gobert

PG: Elfrid Payton

SG: Devin Booker

SF: Mikal Bridges

PF: Jae Crowder

C: Deandre Ayton

Jazz: Rudy Gay (out)

Suns: Chris Paul (out), Cam Payne (wrist, out)

Points: Donovan Mitchell -- 25.9

Rebounds: Rudy Gobert -- 14.8

Assists: Mike Conley -- 5.3

Points: Devin Booker -- 25.6

Rebounds: Deandre Ayton -- 10.3

Assists: Chris Paul -- 10.7