The Northwest’s top team, the Portland Trail Blazers (44-24), travel to EnergySolutions Arena to square off against the division rival Utah Jazz (31-39). The game starts at 9:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Mar. 25 and will air on CSN-NW and ROOT-NW.
The Jazz lost a tough one against the Timberwolves 106-104 on Monday. Rudy Gobert recorded 18 points and 17 rebounds, earning his 17th double-double of the year. The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, are coming off a 97-86 loss at the hands of the Grizzlies on Saturday. Damian Lillard had a game-high 27 points.
Over the last five games, LaMarcus Aldridge has been on a tear for the Trail Blazers. During that stretch, he has averaged 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.6 three-pointers.
The two teams have split their matchups this season. The Jazz had the upper hand in the most recent game, a 92-76 win. Gordon Hayward scored a game-high 20 points.
The odds are even for this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is currently unavailable. The Jazz look to improve upon their records of 31-39 Straight Up (SU) and 38-31-1 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 5-5 SU and 7-3 ATS when playing their division. Teams have a tough time keeping Utah off of the offensive glass. They rank fifth in the NBA in offensive rebounds. Utah’s defense is doing better against opposing offenses during the last 10 games, only allowing an average of 86.8 points per game, well under their season average of 95.0.
On the other side, Portland has a SU record of 44-24 and an ATS record of 34-33-1. In divisional games, Portland has gone 8-3 SU and 4-6-1 ATS. Portland is the top foul-shooting team in the league, hitting .800 of their shots from the line. Switching gears to Portland’s defense, teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Trail Blazers, who are the fifth-best team in the league in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .436.
Utah won the last meeting this season between these two teams, but the Trail Blazers still lead the head-to-head record over the last 10, 6-4 SU. The teams have an even record ATS, 5-5. Portland has held the edge in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers) three times over the last 10, while Utah accomplished this once.
Predictions: SU Winner – UTA, ATS Winner – UTA
Notes
Utah ranks 26th in points per game with 94.8, while Portland ranks 10th in points allowed with an average of 97.9 given up.
On average, Utah puts up 96.2 points per home game (ranked 27th), while Portland gives up 102.1 points per away game (ranked 18th).
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Utah Jazz are a solid 28-14. In games where they fail to hit triple digits, the Portland Trail Blazers have a subpar record of 10-16.
The Utah Jazz have an abysmal 3-25 record in games where they have allowed at least 100 points. The Portland Trail Blazers are 34-8 when they hit triple digits.
The Trail Blazers have a defensive rating of 100.2, fifth-best in the NBA. The Jazz also rank in the top half of the league for their offensive rating of 102.5 (ranked 15th).
With 92.5 possessions and 1.025 points per possession, the Utah Jazz perform worse on both metrics than the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland averages 97.7 possessions and 1.050 points per possession.
Portland has an average effective field goal percentage of 50.6% (ranked ninth in the league}. Utah is a subpar 4-30 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Utah makes an average of 20.1 assists per game (ranked 28th). Portland ranks higher in assists with 21.9 (ranked 12th).
With 6.0 blocks per game, the Utah Jazz rank fourth in the league. The Portland Trail Blazers are in the top half of NBA teams for blocking, ranking 15th with 4.7 blocks per game.
Utah ranks among the best in the league in offensive rebounding at fifth, while Portland ranks first in defensive rebounds.
The Utah Jazz make an average of 7.3 steals per game. The Portland Trail Blazers are 27-19 when they allow 7 or more steals.
