Northwest Division bragging rights now belong to the Utah Jazz for the first time since 2016-17 after Quin Snyder’s troops disposed of the Denver Nuggets heading into last weekend. There is however work to be done with the top overall seed not yet determined heading into the final week of the NBA betting season. Utah owns a slim lead over the Phoenix Suns for the No. 1 seed, and tonight’s matchup will be the final one to take place on the Vivint Arena hardwood in the regular season. That should have Rudy Gobert and company coming out determined to secure win No. 32 in front of the hometown faithful. However, the Portland Trail Blazers also have much to fight for with Damian Lillard and his mates looking to hold onto the No. 6 seed so as to avoid being forced to partake in the play-in round. It all adds up to the most intriguing matchup of the night that should have online sportsbooks very busy booking copious amounts of action!
This divisional skirmish is set to go down live on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET from the Vivint Arena. We'll have NBA odds available at BookMaker.eu for this and every game on the NBA slate.
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Odds Analysis
While the overall effort hasn’t translated into much success in the pointspread department, the Trail Blazers are simply a team nobody will want to run up against in the second season. Though just two-games over .500 for NBA bettors on the year (35-33 ATS), Portland enters the week hot in the ticket cashing department having done so nine times in the 14 games played since the middle of April. The Blazers will host Houston looking to rattle off a fourth straight win before heading to SLC where they’ll attempt to improve upon their 21-13 SU and ATS records as visitors. Utah has been nothing if not a bully in its own digs where it’s won 31 of 35 played games and covered the closing NBA odds 23 times. Even with Donovan Mitchell last suiting up on April 16, the team has managed to go 5-1 SU and 3-3 ATS in their last six home games. Portland will attempt to avoid being swept in the season rivalry after the Jazz won the first two by an average of 19.5 points per game (2-0 ATS).
Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers logged win No. seven in their last eight tries on Saturday after rolling the San Antonio Spurs 124-102 as 6-point home favorites. It was the C.J. McCollum and Lillard show with the former going for 27 points on 10 of 21 shooting and the latter going for 30 by way of draining 8 of his 17 overall attempts; each connected on 4 of 9 shots from beyond the arc. Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic helped lead the way on the glass combining for 20 rebounds (8 OFF) which allowed for Portland to earn a number of second and third chance scoring opportunities. Utah destroyed Portland in the rebounding battle in both prior matchups. Either one or both of these guys must find a way to keep Rudy Gobert grounded after he averaged 18.5 rebounds.
Utah Jazz
Since dropping an ugly 121-100 decision to the Suns in Phoenix as 4-point dogs, the Jazz have dropped it into high gear. While the opposition faced hasn’t been stellar, a five-game win streak is nothing to scoff at with so much currently riding on a gamely basis. After coming back to dispose of Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Friday night, Utah still managed to escape a major letdown spot by logging the 124-116 non-covering win against the Houston Rockets. In failing to cover the closing 16-point spread, Utah saw its three game win streak against the basketball betting lines come to a close. Regardless, all but one of the players that logged at least 20 minutes of floor time went for double-digits and the ATS defeat was only their 12th at home for the year.
Portland vs. Utah Prediction
There might not be a team with more to lose heading into the final week of the season than the Trail Blazers. They got Houston at home Monday night before embarking on a two-game road trip to Utah and Phoenix. They’ll then close things out back home against Denver. If Portland is to hold onto the 6th in the West and bypass the play-in round, it’s going to at the very least need to split those four games. They’ll inarguably take to the Vivint Arena hardwood determined to avoid having the broom busted out on them. I can’t say the same for the Jazz who’ve got a couple of cupcake matchups against Oklahoma City and Sacramento to close out the regular season. Win those two, and the top seed will be theirs. With that, I’ll be paying up to see just how amped they’ll be to hold serve and sweep the season rivalry from their division rivals come Hump Day night.
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