Philadelphia 76ers vs Utah Jazz Picks and Predictions Dec 9
Philadelphia 76ers vs Utah Jazz Betting Preview
WagerTalk NBA handicapper Andy Lang offers his Philadelphia 76ers vs Utah Jazz betting preview for Thursday, December 9. At the time of posting, the Jazz have opened as a 3-point road favorite in Philadelphia, with the total sitting at 217 points.
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Philadelphia 76ers vs Utah Jazz Predictions
- Utah Jazz -3 at Philadelphia 76ers
- Total: 217 Points
- The Sixers have won and covered the point spread in each of their last four home games vs Utah.
- Philadelphia has failed to cover the point spread in each of their last five home games.
Both teams will be playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back as the Utah Jazz continue their road trip against the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The 17-7 Utah Jazz are off to a blistering start and sit at 3rd place in a stacked Western Conference. The 14-11 Philadelphia 76ers have struggled early in the season, but appear to working their way back into form recently. The Jazz torched the 76ers at home by a score of 120-85 in their first meeting on November 16th. However, the 76ers were without dominant big man Joel Embiid as they were dealing with Covid issues.
On Wednesday night the Utah Jazz outscored the Timberwolves by 31 points in second half and landed a 136-104 victory in Minnesota. The Jazz connected on 25 of 54 from beyond the arc and shot a sizzling 57 percent from the field. All Star guard Donovan Mitchell poured in a game high 36 points as he’s now scored 30+ points in four straight games. Mitchell won NBA Western Conference Player of the Week honors and has propelled his team to a 5 game win streak. This stretch marked the fifth time in Mitchell’s career that he scored 30 or more in 3 consecutive games.
The Jazz have thrived on both sides of the ball, they score 114.9 points a game which is the 2nd most in the association. Utah will always be able to count on their defense for as long Rudy Gobert is part of the team. Gobert has won NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 3 of the past 4 seasons and the Jazz currently rank 8th in defensive efficiency.
However, even Rudy Gobert may not be able to slow down Joel Embiid with the monster run that he has been on recently. Embiid has now scored 28 or more points in 5 of his last 7 games and snagged 12 or more rebounds in 6 of his last 7. Last night the 76ers made plays down the stretch of a 110-106 road victory over the Charlotte Hornets and have now won 3 straight games.
Embiid is finally working his way back into form after missing 9 games due to a rough battle with Covid. No team in the league has had critical players hit as hard with Covid as the 76ers. On top of the 9 games that Embiid missed, Tobias Harris also missed 6 games and Danny Green held out early due to Covid. The 76ers rank 17th in points scored and 18th in defensive rating. However you can only take so much from those numbers as they are just now getting back to full strength.
The Utah Jazz are laying three points and the over/under is 217 points. The Jazz are 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 games on 0 days rest, while Philadelphia is 4-0 ATS in their 4 games on no rest. The Jazz are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games in Philadelphia.
However, the Jazz hold a statistical advantage in most major categories. The Jazz hold a distinct advantage as Joel Embiid is basically the 76ers only offensive option and Utah has a defender who can at least slow him down. Both teams are currently on win streaks, but Jazz have been dominating while the 76ers have been eking out wins. Our official play will be on the Utah Jazz laying three points.
Official Play: Utah Jazz -3
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Philadelphia 76ers vs Utah Jazz Analysis from The GoldSheet
Utah had little trouble against Philadelphia in the first meeting this season, when the Jazz laid a 120-85 spanking on the shorthanded Sixers who played without C Joel Embiid and Danny Green. Embiid’s absence tilted the battle on the boards to a 56-42 edge for Rudy Gobert and the Jazz and helped them get inside enough to make 30 of 51 two-point attempts (59%).
The situation is a bit different this time around, with Embiid and Green back in action. Conversely, the Jazz are getting some mileage from Rudy Gay, who wasn’t available in first meeting and is scoring 11 ppg and grabbing 5 rpg off the bench for Quin Snyder’s team, as well as providing another weapon from downtown (48% on his treys).
Still, the home team has won the last 5 in the series, covering the last 4 of those, with the Sixers have won and covered four-straight at the Wells Fargo Center against the Jazz. Utah is coming off crushing Minnesota 136-104 in Minneapolis last night while Philly won but failed to cover again at Charlotte.
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