Two of the top teams in the NBA conclude a home-and-home series on ESPN when the Phoenix Suns visit the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The teams met for the first time this season on Monday in Arizona with that game being the second of a road back-to-back for the Jazz following Sunday’s loss to Golden State. Utah has fallen off the pace for the league’s best overall record by losing seven of nine while going 1-7-1 ATS. The Suns enter the week having won six straight and own the NBA’s best record at 36-9.
The contest between the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz takes place at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT and will air live on ESPN. BookMaker.eu will have odds for every game on the Wednesday NBA schedule.
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Odds Analysis
While most teams have gone through some kind of slump this season the Suns have been exempt. And that’s why they are at the top of the league standings. They enter the week having lost only nine games, one-third of those coming in the first four contests of the season. That’s right the Suns were 1-3 after the first week of the regular season. Any thought of a letdown after winning 51 games a season ago were quickly put to rest when they rattled off a club record 18 straight wins. They’ve lost consecutive games just twice and stretched their winning streak to six with a 113-103 win over Indiana on Saturday. They failed to cover the 13.5-point spread, though, ending a four-game ATS streak. They are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games and 25-20 ATS overall.
When you’re struggling things just seem to pile up. This is a big stretch of games for the Jazz to try and make up some ground in the Western Conference, but it didn’t start well. And the troubles date back a few weeks. Since winning at Denver on Jan. 5, the Jazz are just 2-7 SU and 1-7-1 ATS. They failed to cover in four straight before pushing the 2-point line in their 94-92 loss to Golden State on Sunday. And some of the defeats were disturbing. They suffered three straight double-digit road losses to Toronto, Indiana and Detroit and lost at home by 20 to Cleveland and to Houston. Overall they’re still in good shape with a record of 30-17 SU while going 15-9 SU and 8-16 ATS at home.
Phoenix Suns
Every team has dealt with COVID issues at some point. The Suns have just done a better job than most. When the roster was thin with players on the virus list the club signed Bismack Biyombo to an emergency contract. The guy is making it hard for the coaching staff to replace him. Biyombo scored 21 points with 13 rebounds in the win over Indiana and Mikal Bridges added 23 as the Suns overcame an off night from leading scorer Devin Booker.
Booker had just 11 points and missed all six three-point attempts. “That’s what makes us a pretty good team. Everybody can play, everybody can hoop. We just feed off of each other and we’re all unselfish. We play for each other and find each other,” Bridges said. The Suns are one of the most efficient offensive teams and they also get it done on the other end of the floor holding opponents to 43.6 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from deep while allowing just 104.5 points per outing.
Utah Jazz
Getting leading scorer Donovan Mitchell back in the lineup will certainly help Utah’s chances. Mitchell took a hit in a game last week against the Lakers finishing that contest with 13 points missing all eight of his three-point attempts. He was diagnosed with a concussion and placed in the league’s protocols. It’s hard to say if he was affected during the game, but judging by his numbers the answer is clear. Utah lost that game 101-95 and dropped two of the next three, all with Mitchell on the shelf.
Mitchell is averaging 25.5 points and 5.2 assists with the offense impacted by his absence. What’s more concerning, though, is the way the team is playing defense. Always a tenacious group under Quin Snyder, Utah has dropped off on that end of the floor. The Jazz allow over 107 points per game and have scuffled putting everything together over the last few games. When the defense plays well the offense can’t score and vice versa. That was evident on Sunday when they held the Warriors to 94 points but shot just 38 percent in the two-point setback.
NBA Odds Pick
The Jazz will snap out of their funk and beating the Suns would be a good way to turn things around. There’s a good chance Mitchell is back in the lineup giving the team a needed boost and the offense should be more like the unit that leads the league in scoring.
NBA Odds Prediction: Jazz 111, Suns 107
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