Utah Jazz vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction

The Utah Jazz will be playing their 2^nd game in the bubble when they match up against the OKC Thunder on Saturday afternoon. The current point spread is +/- 1.5 with the Thunder listed as the favorite. The over under line is 212 and the money line odds are sitting at Thunder (-125) and the Jazz at (+105). Read our full Jazz vs. Thunder prediction below to see how our model thinks this game will pan out.

Jazz Preview:
The Jazz kicked off the NBA bubble experiment with their win against the Pelicans, and although it wasn’t an inspiring performance by the Jazz, a win is a win. The Jazz found them selves down by 16 at one point in the second quarter and clawed their way back to get the win. Now the Jazz also got bailed out a bit by the Pelicans executives who have decided Zion will be on a minute restriction, if Zion was in during crunch time we have a feeling the Jazz would have taken the L .

The Jazz had some major rust to dust off during night one of the NBA return and it showed. They had big issues taking care of the ball, and their bench at one point was shooting 0-13 from three. The Jazz ended up finding their shot a bit, but as a bettor nothing that happened in that game made you more confident in them moving forward. Mitchell and Gobert still do not seem to be on the same page and although they connected on some lobs here and there a real rim protector will give them problems.

It could be that the Jazz needed a game to get ready, but overall we were not insipired by the Jazz’s performance in the bubble. We have a feeling their level of play was an indicator of how they will play moving forward. The Pelicans are not a playoff team and the Jazz should have handled them with ease. Let’s see if their second game helps get them into the groove.

Thunder Preview:
The Thunder are the Cinderella of the NBA this year and now we will get to see if Cinderella got invited to the bubble in Orlando. Projected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA, OKC has shocked everyone by cementing themselves in a playoff position and competing as one of the best teams against the spread. Oklahoma City has been disrespected by the books all year long as they have been given points in a lot of situations it turns out they didn’t need them. Coming into this game the Thunder are the favorite where they are 15-14 against the spread.

The Thunder are a vet team led by Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari who carry a ton of weight. They even have a few young guns like SGA who haven’t backed down at all this season. Bettors have been feasting off the Thunder this season and we think that will continue in the bubble. The Thunder may not stack up well against the top of the Western Conference teams, but these middle of the table teams should watch out.

The Thunder are extremely capable on both offense and defense, and if they are able to pressure the Jazz we could see an easy win for the Thunder. The Jazz didn’t see a lot of their shots fall in their first match up against a lackluster defensive team, so we expect them to shoot much worse against a legitimate team like the Thunder.

BetQL’s Full Thunder vs. Jazz Prediction
When the Thunder take on the Jazz on Sunday it can really go either way, and the sportsbooks agree placing this line at +/- 1. The Thunder are the better team but haven’t played yet, while on the other hand the Jazz are rusty and 1-0 in the bubble. OKC typically covers when they are the underdog, but they are the favorite in this match up. The Jazz have two star players who may not be on the same page and a cast of supporting characters that will need to step their game up if they want to secure another win. This game could go either way and if you want to see all the data we have behind this game check out a subscription to BetQL where you can find all the data you need to make an informed bet.