Utah boasts a scary front court pair in Derrick Favors in Rudy Gobert, who both put on a strong defensive performance in Sunday’s 102-92 road win at Washington with four blocks apiece. Their efforts also allowed the Jazz to book their third win in a row—a run that will now be challenged by OKC.
Both teams split the first two meetings this season, with each victory won by the visiting side. That trend should continue as long as Utah’s league-leading defense (95.6 points allowed per game) contains Russell Westbrook who torched them with 38 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in Salt Lake City last month.
Meanwhile, the Jazz can also turn up the music offensively with their All-Star wingman Gordon Hayward (22.5 PPG). He lit up the scoreboard with 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting in the win against the Wizards.
Hayward and co. are 7-3 SU and 4-6 ATS in their last 10 road games.
OKC’s won three-straight games, too, with the latest of which against the new-look Pelicans on Sunday night, 118-110. Russell Westbrook continued chasing history there, registering his 29th triple-double of the season with 41 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
He’s now looking to make it four-straight triple-doubles, this time against a Jazz team that’s held the Thunder to an average of 93 points after splitting the first two meetings this season. Utah owns the best defense in the league right now, after all.
That being said, Westbrook will need some support—something that OKC hopes to provide more consistently. Victor Oladipo’s missed the previous two contests due to a back injury, but he’s expected to return tonight. The former Magic guard is posting 16.1 points this season.
The Thunder are 8-2 SU and ATS in their past 10 home games.
