As March draws to a close, the NBA playoff picture is awfully clear. The Phoenix Suns are holding out hope of capturing the sixth seed — thus avoiding the play-in — while fighting to hold off the Los Angeles Clippers to maintain home-court advantage in the 7-8 matchup. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz are thoroughly waving the white flag, hoping to capture as many lottery balls as possible. But will this be the blowout it appears to be on paper?
Phoenix is a 16.5-point home favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while Utah sits as a +900 underdog. The total is set at 232.5 points.
Let’s get into a prediction and pick for Saturday’s matchup between the Jazz and Suns.
Jazz vs. Suns preview
Health plays a big role in this one. Phoenix will be down two starters, as Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams are sidelined for Saturday’s matchup. Utah is riddled with injuries — though you could debate the veracity of those injuries, these players will be out, all the same: Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jusuf Nurkic, and Walker Kessler. It has left them with only a handful of regular contributors, but it’s not like Utah is keen on winning games in the first place.
Just look at Friday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets. Utah got hot in the middle quarters, scoring 79 points in the second and third, powered by Kyle Filipowski and Cody Williams. So how did they respond to being up on the Nuggets, going into a fourth quarter on the road?
Filipowski, Williams, and Sensabaugh were scarcely seen in the fourth. Deep bench players like Elijah Harkless, Bez Mbeng, and Kennedy Chandler played the entirety of the fourth quarter, as the Jazz turned a seven-point lead into a six-point loss. It was an impressive display of an aversion to winning.
Another punt effort could be in the cards Saturday night. Will the Suns oblige them with a blowout? Or can the Jazz get hot enough to make this one competitive?
Jazz vs. Suns pick, best bet
The absences of Williams and Brooks cannot be understated. Losing your top rebounder and your top perimeter defender hurts. However, the Suns have capable bigs in Oso Ighodaro and Rasheer Fleming to provide the defense and physicality in the paint. They don’t have an answer for how to replace Brooks’ perimeter defense, but that hardly matters against an inept Jazz offense.
The scoring trio of Devin Booker, Jalen Green, and Collin Gillespie is going to overwhelm Utah. It’s a steep spread, but Phoenix is more than capable of handling business tonight.
