4/8 Utah at Portland
8:00 pm MT – Root Sports/League Pass
Opponent record: 38-38
Season series: Tied 1-1
After facing Portland on Tuesday, the Jazz will turn right around and play them once again on Saturday night. I’ve already talked about what this Portland team has done and where they’re at in terms of the playoff picture, so I won’t go into too much additional detail here.
More than anything, there’s no doubting that the Blazers are going to be motivated to win this game as they look to lock down the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They also enjoy a phenomenal crowd and home court advantage which has allowed them to play well inside the Moda Center and post a solid record of 22-15.
Blazers are the hot team in March & April but the team no one wants to play in playoffs (if there healthy) is the Utah jazz.
— Mike Rice (@mikerice6) April 2, 2017
Add in the fact that this will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Jazz and I’ve got an uneasy feeling about this game. Given Portland’s lackluster defense, the Jazz should be able to match-up pretty well against them, however, the Blazers’ red hot offense has been able to make up for their deficiencies on the other end of the court. Thus, particularly on their home court, I’m expecting them to be able to outmatch the Jazz who have lost five of their last six on the road.
Hopefully I’m wrong on this one, as the Jazz will really need all three wins this week before they close the year against the Warriors and Spurs, but given how well Portland has played lately, especially at home, I’m going to pin them as narrow winners.
My Prediction: Blazers Win
Final Score: Portland 112, Utah 108
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It’s hard to believe that we’re entering the second to last week of the NBA season. It’s been an up and down year for the Utah Jazz, but this week’s trio of winnable games should help give the Jazz an excellent chance to reach 50 wins and hopefully lock down the fourth seed in the West.
Especially considering all the injuries they’ve had and continue to deal with, if they’re able to do so, it would be an extremely impressive feat.
All stats courtesy of NBA.com