The Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets are both on five-game losing streaks heading into their matchup in Houston on Thursday night.
Utah has fallen off a cliff since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, and it is only half a game up on the Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference.
Houston has the worst record in the West, and the young team has really struggled on defense, ranking 28th in the league in defensive rating.
The Jazz have much more veteran talent than the Rockets, but they have really struggled as favorites this season. The team finds itself back in that spot again on Thursday. Can Utah cover?
Here’s the latest odds and a pick for this matchup:
Jazz vs. Rockets odds, spread and total
Jazz vs. Rockets prediction and pick
This is a pretty simple one for me, because the Jazz have been brutal as road favorites (1-4 against the spread) and as favorites in general this season (5-12 ATS).
Houston is 9-5-2 against the spread as a home underdog this season, losing those games by an average margin of just 2.4 points.
The Rockets don’t have an elite offense like Utah, who is fourth in the league in offensive rating, but both of these teams are in the bottom five in the league in defense.
That should help the Rockets keep this one close at home. Houston is 6-12 straight up at home and just 4-16 straight up on the road.
It’s not a huge difference, but this team is much better in Houston. I’ll fade the Jazz as favorites again.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.