Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers odds, starters, injury report, predictions

The Utah Jazz will look to end their regular season on an encouraging note.

In three meetings this season, the Portland Trail Blazers (27-54) have struggled to counter the potent Utah Jazz attack. Utah has won each time — by an average margin of 25.0 points. The latest was a 123-85 rout in Salt Lake City on March 9.

However, the Jazz players are now coming off an epic fourth-quarter collapse in Friday night’s 111-105 home loss to the league-leading Phoenix Suns. And they must put aside any lingering disappointment, for they still have some playoff positioning at stake in their trip to Portland to cap off the regular season.

Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers Odds Tonight

WynnBet lists Utah as a 17.5-point favorite. The over/under sits at 223.5 points.

Utah Jazz Starting Lineup Tonight

The Jazz starting five should consist of all the regulars: Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Rudy Gobert.

Utah Jazz Injury Report

Udoka Azubuike (right ankle surgery) and Trent Forrest (left midfoot sprain) won’t be in action for the Jazz. Except for those two, the Utah roster contains no reported dinged-up pieces.

Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction

The Trail Blazers have already locked up the NBA’s sixth-best lottery odds, doing so with seemingly intentional losing ways over the past several weeks. So Portland now has only one thing at stake: a warm-and-fuzzy feeling that would come from ending its season with an upset in front of its home crowd over a playoff team.

As for Utah (48-33), the group will be playing the banged-up Blazers while the Denver Nuggets (also 48-33) host the Los Angeles Lakers. No matter what, a win by Utah would guarantee itself the West’s No. 5 seed — leaving Denver at No. 6 — since the Jazz own the tiebreaker via a 4-0 season sweep over the Nuggets.

Considering what’s at stake for Utah, not to mention the team’s relatively good health and recent dominance over Portland, this Jazz-Blazers matchup ought to be another high-scoring blowout by the superior squad.

Prediction: Jazz 130, Blazers 110

Make your pick now on WynnBET.

Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers TV Channel

The Jazz-Blazers game begins at 7:30 p.m. MT. It will air on Root Sports in Oregon and AT&T SportsNet in Utah.

Utah Jazz Schedule & Next Game

Fans will have to wait and see how things shake out on Sunday before knowing the Jazz’s first-round opponent and the date of their first postseason outing.

All we know right now is the 2022 NBA Playoffs tip on Saturday.

Stay tuned to The J-Notes for more Utah Jazz news and views.