The Utah Jazz have been one of the form teams out West over the past few weeks. They’ve gone 6-1 (4-2-1 ATS) over their last seven games to open up a commanding 3.5-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 4 seed in the conference.
They played and won last night on the road against the Detroit Pistons, 97-83. Gordon Hayward was outstanding with 25 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, while George Hill added 17. Meanwhile, their excellent defense quieted the Pistons starters; only Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored more than 8 points among the starting 5.
The oft-injured Jazz did suffer another injury setback as Rodney Hood didn’t play the second half of the Pistons game due to knee soreness. He likely won’t be risked against Cleveland.
Utah – like it seemingly always does despite all its injuries – should be able to cope by slotting Joe Ingles into the starting lineup. The Aussie has been playing very well of late, averaging 9.3 points and shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc in March.
The Jazz have also been withouth power forward Derrick Favors for the last four games, but Joe Johnson has been able to slot in to play as a small-ball 4. He’s actually been quite effective in that role, as he’s averaging around 12 points and providing better spacing for the offense.
After going 9-2 in February, the Cleveland Cavaliers are back to their mediocre ways in March. They’ve gone just 3-5 in their first five games of the month. However, they did pick up a big 128-96 home win last time out against the Detroit Pistons.
Kyrie Irving had 26 points while LeBron James had yet another triple-double (16 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists) in just 28 minutes as the Cavs supporting cast played very well for a change. Five Cavs other than Kyrie and LeBron scored in double-figures as Cleveland shot a scorching 60 percent from the field and 63 percent from beyond the arc.
The Cavs have had their wobbles lately, but most of them have generally come on the road. They’ve been a bit more reliable at home, where they’re 8-2 (6-4 ATS) in their last 10. One of their two home losses during that stretch came against the Chicago Bulls, when the Cavs were without LeBron James.
The Cavs have owned the Jazz over the years in Cleveland. They’re an impressive 10-2 (8-4 ATS) in their last 12 meetings on home turf.
Writer’s Prediction
With an extra day’s rest, the Cavs (-8) win and cover at home against the Jazz, who are on the second night of a back-to-back.
