Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets: Analysis and Prediction – Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets will play an NBA game.
Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets Odds
Utah Jazz Team News
The Utah Jazz are not having a particularly good season, as they are in 11th position in the Western Conference standings with a record of 18-20. In the introduction before this duel, they surprised the Milwaukee Bucks by 132:116, with 21 points each from Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson.
After the departure of Donovan Mitchell, and especially coach Quin Snyder, the Utah Jazz changed their philosophy. This team cultivated a winning culture until that moment and hoped for better results in the playoffs, while now it is in some phase of rebuilding the team. This is evidenced by the score on the table, as well as the composition. Lauri Markannen is the first name of this team and he is playing really well with 23.5 points per game, thus continuing the games from last season, in which he was a shade better. The second scorer is Jordan Clarkson with 17.4 points and when looking at those two data, it can be concluded that the Utah Jazz play with a lot of isolations, which is again different compared to some previous years, when the flow of the ball was the strongest characteristic of this team.
Jordan Clarkson being the team’s second leading scorer can’t be good. The Utah Jazz guard has always been known for the fact that his individual performance is the most important thing, and in such circumstances, no team can improve. It is far from being the only problem of this team, whose field goal percentage is among the worst in the league, which is largely a consequence of the selection.
Denver Nuggets Team News
The Denver Nuggets have been playing with ups and downs lately, and in the prelude to this duel they beat the Detroit Pistons 131:114, with 37 points from Jamal Murray, and 18 each from Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. They are currently in third place in the Western Conference with a record of 26-12.
Everything was going great for the reigning champions this season, until Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon got injured. From that moment on, things were much more difficult for the Denver Nuggets, as Nikola Jokic was unable to carry the full load. This team cannot be completed. And just when they tied a few games together, Aaron Gordon had an accident with his dog, so he had to take another leave. All of that has affected the current state of the standings, which may not be satisfactory for the Denver Nuggets, but it’s good enough. This team has enough time until the end of the league part of the season to improve that score and be where it belongs – in the first position of the Western Conference.
What could be a problem for this team in the playoffs is the lack of contributions from the bench. It was known that this would be a problem after the departure of Bruce Brown, and it seems that the Denver Nuggets were not able to successfully cover that gap compared to last season.
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Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets H2H
In the first mutual duel this season, Denver Nuggets won 110:102.
Absences and Injuries
The home team is complete, and the Denver Nuggets are without Vlatko Cancar and Julian Strawther.
Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets Prediction
The Utah Jazz, unlike some previous seasons, play a very bad defense, allowing as many as 118 points per 100 possessions, which will be fatal against an offensive team such as the visiting team. Therefore, we expect the Denver Nuggets to win this match by a margin higher than the offered handicap and to continue their hunt for the first place in the Western Conference.
Tip-off Time: Thursday, 11.01.2024, 04:00 CET
Prediction: Denver Nuggets -6.5
Odds: 1.90
Sportsbook: 22Bet
*Odds are active at the time the article is published
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