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The NBA regular season continues with games on Wednesday. The Utah Jazz will hit the road and take on the Boston Celtics. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Jazz-Celtics prediction and pick.
Both of these teams have had very similar seasons so far. The Utah Jazz have been dominant and have won three of their last four games. While the Celtics have been gaining a lot of momentum and are coming off four straight wins. This should be a very competitive match between two of the top teams in the NBA.
Here are the Jazz-Celtics NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Jazz-Celtics Odds
Utah Jazz: +4.5 (-106)
Boston Celtics: -4.5 (-114)
Over: 217.5 (-110)
Under: 217.5 (-110)
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Why The Jazz Could Cover The Spread
The Utah Jazz have had an impressive year so far. Through their first 72 games, they have a record of 45-27. The Jazz have consistently won tough games and have managed to be competitive from the beginning of the year up until now. While they have won three of their last four, they are coming off an eight-point loss to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are a tough opponent, but that was still a winnable game for the Jazz. Utah will look to bounce back from that loss as they face another tough opponent on Wednesday. The Celtics have been on a roll lately and so this will likely be a battle for all four quarters. If the Jazz want to end up on top they will need to come in ready.
One of the biggest reasons the Jazz came up short against Brooklyn was because the Nets contained Rudy Gobert. The duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert has been dominant this season. However, in their loss to the Nets Gobert was made completely ineffective. He walked away from that game with only 11 points and 4 rebounds in 31 minutes of playing time. On the season the big man is averaging 15 points and 15 rebounds a game, so this was a significant step-down. If Gobert is able to have a bounce-back game against the Celtics then the Jazz could definitely end up redeeming themselves for that loss.
Another factor to consider in this match-up is injuries. The Jazz currently have three players listed on their injury report. All three of those players will be unavailable for Wednesday's game. While none of the injured players are top contributors, the Jazz will be without the depth that would have helped alleviate the pressure on the starters.
Why The Celtics Could Cover The Spread
The Boston Celtics have been a team on a mission in the second half of this season. They had a somewhat shaky start to the year, but have since completely flipped the script. Through their first 73 games, the Celtics are an impressive 45-28. Their most recent victory came over the OKC Thunder by 9. Boston will look to continue their dominance on Wednesday against the Jazz. Utah should not be an opponent that this Boston team takes lightly. This will be a very competitive game, and the winner will likely be decided by who wants it more. If the Celtics are able to sustain a high level of play for four quarters they should win. However, if they come out strong and become stagnant then victory may begin to slip between their fingers.
The two leaders of this Celtics team are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. These two guys have been setting the pace in Boston for all of their games. In their win over the Thunder, they combined for 61 points. Against the Nuggets they had 60. Before that, in the game against Sacramento, they had 62. There is a very clear correlation between the success of the Celtics and the performances of Tatum and Brown. When these two guys show up and dominate, the Celtics do the same. If they can continue playing the way they have been recently, then the Jazz could end up being the next team to fall short to Boston.
Everything is finally coming up Boston's way. Currently, the Celtics have only two players listed on their injury report. However, both players, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams are listed as probable for Wednesday's game. That means that the Celtics will be at full health and ready for action. Smart and Williams are fan favorites in Boston and for good reason. These guys give this team heart and depth and provide them with what they were lacking. The Celtics look good going into this game and should be able to add to their win column on Wednesday.
Final Jazz-Celtics Prediction & Pick
This should be a really good game. Both of these teams are extremely competitive and will be playing hard for four quarters. However, it just seems that the stars are aligning in Boston. The Celtics are healthy, they've been winning games, and they show no signs of slowing down. The Jazz have also been solid, but they just haven't looked as good as Boston. Given all of this, Pick the Celtics to win and cover.
FINAL JAZZ-CELTICS PICK: Boston Celtics -4.5 (-114)
FINAL JAZZ-CELTICS SCORE PREDICTION: Celtics 116 – Jazz 110
