Two playoff-seeking teams lock horns this Wednesday night as the New York Knicks play host to the Utah Jazz at the Madison Square Garden. This will be the final regular-season game between these two clubs and the Knicks are definitely going to try their best to give the Jazz, who won the last meeting on December, a taste of their own medicine.
[sc:NBA250 ]Let’s now take an in-depth look below at this showdown. And if you’re craving for more hoops action, check out our preview of the Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors at Chicago Bulls.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Utah Jazz vs. New York Knicks Betting Preview
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
When: Wednesday, January 20, 2016, 7:30 PM ET
Line: Utah Jazz at New York Knicks– view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: RTRM+, MSG
Betting on the Utah Jazz (18-23)
A spectacular 36-point, five-board and nine-assist performance from Gordon Hayward wasn’t enough to give the Utah Jazz the win against Charlotte on Monday afternoon. The Jazz were defeated in double overtime, 124-119, all thanks to Kemba Walker, who exploded for a career-best of 52 points, nine rebounds and eight dimes.
[sc:NBA240banner ]With the loss, the Jazz are now losers of three of their last four games and have fallen to 18-23 on the season, good for eighth place in the Western Conference. They’ll strive to right their ship tonight when they go mano-a-mano with the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Utah is 1-9 SU and 2-8 ATS in its previous 10 road games.
There’s no question that Hayward’s going to be their go-to-guy in this one. The 25-year-old swingman from Butler carries a team-best of 19.6 points along with 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists thus far this season. Hayward has also been pretty comfortable playing away from home with respectable numbers of 17.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists across 20 road games.
Apart from Hayward, the Jazz can rely on Trey Burke, who’s been playing some spectacular basketball lately. Burke, the 23-year-old point guard, has finished with at least 10 points over the past nine outings, including a 25-point outburst versus the Hornets. But it’s worth noting that Burke has struggled against New York through five career games, tallying just 8.4 points and 4.4 dimes.
Over on defense, they’ll face a formidable task of holding the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Arron Afflalo from pouring in the points. It’s a good thing that the Jazz have done well on limiting their opponents this season, allowing just 97.2 PPG (fifth-lowest in the NBA).
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Betting on the New York Knicks (21-22)
Thanks to a clutch performance from Carmelo Anthony (19 points), the New York Knicks managed to get back on track at the expense of a resilient Sixers team on Monday, 119-113. But in that match, Anthony was also efficiently backed up by his teammates.
There was Arron Afflalo, who had a game-high 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting, to help their cause. The pair of Kristaps Porzingis and Robin Lopez, meanwhile, contributed 16 points each and combined for 22 rebounds and five blocks.
All in all, the Knicks’ starting unit put up 84 points at the end of the game and will be trying to keep it up opposite the visiting Utah Jazz tonight. New York has won eight of its last 10 contests at home, going 7-3 ATS in that span.
Anthony will be aiming to establish his presence once again in this game. The 31-year-old small forward is the team’s top scorer (21.5) and has played extremely well against Utah, posting 25.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in over 31 career games. Anthony, however, will likely need a helping hand in this one since the Jazz are known to be a solid defensive squad.
Fortunately, there’s still Afflalo and Porzingis to carry some of the scoring load. The two are averaging 14.2 points and 14.0 points respectively this year. Afflalo, in particular, has been more impressive as he’s tallying 17.8 points in last five games. That stretch includes their game against Boston on January 12, during which he went 9-for-18 from the field for 24 points.
Writer’s Prediction
Utah wins a thriller, 97-93. Create a betting account now and put your NBA predictions to the test!
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