Utah Jazz vs. Golden State Warriors Predictions, Picks and NBA Preview – March 9, 2016

There’s about a month left before the start of the NBA postseason and the action in the Western Conference is already as intense as ever.

This Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors will continue their pursuit for the best regular-season record in league history when they take on the Utah Jazz, who are on the cusp of the final playoff seed in the West.

Which team will notch another crucial win late into the season? Let’s find out more about this intriguing matchup below. After this, head on over to our preview for Thunder vs. Clippers for another solid Western Conference showdown worth placing some stakes at.

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Utah Jazz vs. Golden State Warriors Preview

Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland

When: Wednesday, March 9, 10:30 PM ET

Line: Utah Jazz (+12.5) at Golden State Warriors (-12.5); total: 207.0 – view all NBA lines

Betting on the Utah Jazz (29-34)

Whenever the Utah Jazz have taken a step forward this regular season, they always seem to find themselves taking two steps back soon after. That was certainly the case again this Tuesday, when they lost at home to the Atlanta Hawks, 91-84, to fall two games behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoff race.

The Jazz, who have the third-best scoring defense in the league (97.2 points allowed per game), held another opponent to less than 100 points, but their inept offense once again denied them of a much-needed victory.

At one point, Utah had a 13-point lead against the Hawks only to see it dissipate down the stretch. The team has now squandered double-digit leads over their last five contests with a dismal 1-4 record during that stretch and 2-7 over their last nine.

At least center Rudy Gobert had another monster night crashing the boards. He had 15 rebounds against the Hawks to give him a total of 51 rebounds over his last three outings. Then again, six points for Gobert and a plus-minus of minus-19 is not a good sign for this struggling Jazz team.

In fact, apart from the tandem of Gordon Hayward (22 points on Tuesday) and Derrick Favors (16), Utah has not gotten any consistent offensive firepower from any of its other players of late. That simply won’t cut it on Wednesday against the sharp-shooting Warriors, who have not lost on their home court at all this entire season.

And it’s not just Golden State’s invulnerability at Oracle Arena that the Jazz have to worry about. Prior to a victory over the lowly Pelicans at New Orleans on March 5, they have actually lost six-straight games on the road (SU/ATS).

Create a betting account now to cash in from all the exciting NBA regular season games on tap as we head closer towards the postseason.

Betting on the Golden State Warriors (56-6)

The Golden State Warriors were ready to be buried even further by their critics after the ugly loss to the then-12-win Los Angeles Lakers this past Sunday, but they managed to bounce back nicely on Monday with a 119-113 victory at home against the Orlando Magic.

Dubs fans witnessed another lights-out performance from MVP frontrunner Stephen Curry, who scored 41 points (seven made three’s) and 13 rebounds. Apart from those already eye-popping numbers, Curry also became the first player in NBA history to drain 300 three-pointers in the regular season.

Even fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson got in on the Warriors scoring spree, putting up 27 points with five makes from deep. About the only negative thing we could say about the Dubs on Monday is that they were very careless with the ball. The team committed a season-high 24 turnovers, which the defensive-minded Jazz will definitely take note of in Wednesday night’s bout.

Yet considering the slump that Utah is currently in, it’s highly likely that Golden State’s 45-game win streak at Oracle Arena will further extend to 46 victories when all is said than done. About the only thing that we can’t count on from the Warriors is covering the spread. They’ve only covered spreads half of the time over their last 20 games that were held in Oakland.

Writer’s Prediction

The Warriors easily silence the Jazz, 109-85.