Pick against the spread, over/under for Mavericks vs. Jazz on Thursday

The Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks will head into Game 3 all knotted up at 1-1. After the Jazz took a 1-0 lead with a 99-93 win in Game 1, the Mavs fought back to get a 110-104 win in Game 2. Dallas has been without Luka Doncic (calf) so far in the series, and it looks like that will be the case again in Utah tonight. Game 3 is set to tip off at 9:00 p.m. ET at Vivint Arena on Thursday night.

DraftKings Sportsbook has the Jazz as a 6.5-point favorite heading into Game 3, priced at -275 on the moneyline. The Mavs come in at +220 with the point total set at 210.

Mavericks vs. Jazz, 9:00 p.m. ET

Pick ATS: Jazz -6.5

The fact that Dallas was able to split the results at home even without Doncic says a lot about the depth of the team. Jalen Brunson stole the show by dropping a career-high 41 points in Game 2 while Maxi Kleber racked up 25 points, draining eight threes in the process. Doncic is listed as questionable ahead of tonight’s game as he recovers from the calf strain he suffered in the final game of the regular season. If he doesn’t make it back for tonight’s game, all signs are pointing to him being ready to go by Game 4.

Donovan Mitchell seems to have gone into playoff mode, putting up 66 points through the first two games — 32 in Game 1 and 34 in Game 2. When he has some offensive help from other players around him, the Jazz can be lethal. Game 1 saw Bojan Bogdanovic add 26 points, while Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson each saw double digits as well. Bogdanovic added 25 in Game 2, with Clarkson tallying 21 of his own.

Rudy Gobert grabbed 17 rebounds in each of the first two games, but the three-time DPOY failed to score more than eight points in either outing. A huge weakness for Utah comes late in the game with its inability to consistently close. The Jazz are notorious for blowing double-digit leads in the fourth quarter, and Game 2 saw them outdone in the final quarter as the Mavs outscored them 33-23 down the stretch.

Utah should be able to get the win tonight as it plays in front of its home crowd for the first time in the series, but once Doncic makes his way back on the court it could spell big trouble for the Jazz. At any rate, take Utah to win and cover tonight.

Over/Under: Over 210

While Game 1 was a low-scoring affair due to increased defensive pressure and slower pace, Game 2 saw a little more offensive action as both teams pushed harder toward the basket. The Jazz will have to shake things up if they want to secure a win tonight, so expect this one to be a little faster pace with both sides trying to capitalize on the other team’s mistakes on both ends of the court. Game 2 went over the total by 7.5 points, and I’m expecting Game 3 to have a similar result.

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