Both the Washington Wizards and the Utah Jazz entered All-Star Weekend with losses, but that shouldn’t stop them from continuing their respective bids for a playoff berth.
The Jazz currently control the eighth seed in the West and have better momentum of late, but the Wizards – postseason contenders in the East last year – are no slouches themselves despite their disappointing record this season thus far.
Who will prevail with a victory from this first game of the NBA’s Thursday night triple-header? Let’s take a closer look at this thrilling matchup from D.C. below.
And before the regular season action gets under way that evening, check out our Weekly Power Rankings feature to find out where your favorite team stands through half a season of play.
Last Wednesday, the Utah Jazz fell to the Pelicans in New Orleans, 100-96, to snap the team’s seven-game winning streak.
It was still a valiant effort from the Jazz, who played their second game of a back-to-back on the road after beating Dallas in overtime. Derrick Favors led the team with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor, Rudy Gobert finished with a double-double (12 points, 14 boards), and Gordon Hayward also added 21 points of his own.
All of Utah’s top producers had a solid night in the Big Easy last week except breakout sensation Rodney Hood, who scored just 15 points. It was the first time in four contests that Hood was limited to less than 23 points.
Nevertheless, the Jazz should be primed to make another solid run for the remainder of the regular season even though one of their key players is bound for an off-night like Hood on Wednesday. Last season, the team had a solid record of 19-10 after the All-Star break.
Then again, getting a win at D.C. on Thursday night might be quite a challenge. Utah lost its last three games against the Wizards (1-2 ATS) with the total going under in all those meetings.
The Jazz shouldn’t be too worried about a low-scoring affair versus Washington, though, as their solid defense ultimately fits these types of contests. The Jazz are currently third in the NBA with just an average of 96.4 points allowed per game.
With the 99-92 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last Thursday, the Washington Wizards found themselves three games back from the final playoff spot in the East as they entered the All-Star break.
The glaring problem for the Wizards continues to be their effort in crashing the boards. They were outrebounded 58-38 by the Bucks in that previous game, and are currently the third-worst rebounding team in the league with just an average of 39.8 boards per contest.
Washington also shot a dismal 6-for-32 from beyond the arc last Thursday, which is rather uncanny. The team is actually fifth in the NBA with a respectable 36.2-percent mark from deep.
The only player that had a relatively good outing against Milwaukee was All-Star point guard John Wall, who secured his fifth-straight double-double and 30th for the season with 15 points and 10 assists. Yes, those numbers aren’t really dazzling, and the same could be said for the rest of his other stats that night. He shot just 5-of-19 from the floor (3-of-12 from the 3-point line) and committed a game-high seven turnovers.
With Wall not playing like his usual dynamic self and not getting much support from the rest of his guys, all signs seem to be pointing towards another loss for the Wiz. To add insult to injury, the team has also lost seven of its last 10 games at home (3-6-1 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction
The Jazz prevail with a sound victory on the road, 99-88.
