Jazz vs. Nets NBA Predictions and Pick for March 21 (Archive)
The Brooklyn Nets (37-34) host the Utah Jazz (45-26) on NBA TV this Monday evening. The Jazz have won three in a row by at least 15 points each after taking care of the Knicks last night. The Nets have won five out of six, but the Trail Blazers did give them a tough battle (128-123) on Friday despite a large spread.
Utah Jazz vs. Brooklyn Nets
Monday, March 21, 2022 – 07:30 PM EDT at Barclays Center
The Nets (28-41-2 ATS) are a 1-point favorite over the Jazz (31-38-2 ATS) at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks. Utah rarely finds itself as a road underdog (2-3-1 ATS), but the Nets are an unfathomable 4-21-1 ATS (16.0%) as a home favorite this season. Can the Jazz add to that incredibly bad record?
February 4 Recap: Jazz 125, Nets 102
These teams only met once this season back in February, and it was a rout in Utah with the Nets in arguably their weakest form. Kevin Durant and James Harden were out injured, and Kyrie Irving had his worst game of the season, shooting 6-of-20 from the field with 15 points.
The Jazz did not have Rudy Gobert or Jordan Clarkson, but Donovan Mitchell was hot with 27 points on 10 shots. The starters played few minutes as the Jazz led wire-to-wire in an easy win with an irrelevant fourth quarter. Utah shot 56.5% from the field, the team’s second-highest game this season.
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The Nets will field a better roster this time with Durant back, but this team is a serious liability in home games as long as Irving continues to be ruled out for not having a COVID vaccination. It’s preposterous that we have seen him on the sideline with his team in the last week, but he still is not allowed to play, and you can see it reflected in the record at home.
In all home games this season, the Nets are 7-26-1 ATS (21.2%), putting them on pace to be the worst home team to bet on since at least 2003. If lowly Portland can push the Nets like they did the other night, what can a hot Utah team do with Mitchell and Gobert in this matchup?
Recent Play: Offenses Thriving, Defenses Dividing
Since the All-Star break, Utah (9-4) and Brooklyn (6-6) are among the top seven teams in Offensive Rating as you would expect, but defense is where we see separation. The Jazz, led by Gobert, are still No. 10 in Defensive Rating while the Nets are way down at No. 25.
Even Portland’s limited roster shot 50% from the field in Brooklyn the other night. The Nets did themselves few favors with 21 turnovers, including a season-high eight giveaways by Durant. He will be looking for a cleaner game as the offense is all built around him without Irving available.
Seth Curry did shine in his first game back following a three-game absence. He scored 27 points, his most with the Nets so far. We’ll see if he can keep it up against Utah’s Mitchell, who scored 36 points last night against the Knicks and has made 16 threes in his last two games.
Assuming the spread does not move towards Utah before tipoff, this is only the seventh time the Jazz will be an underdog this season, the fewest such games in the league. Even the Suns have been underdogs nine times as they deal with Chris Paul’s injury. Utah has a prolific scorer in Mitchell to cancel out what Durant is capable of, and the Jazz should have an advantage at center (Gobert vs. Andre Drummond).
Depth is an issue for the Jazz right now as Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley did not play last night against the Knicks. Bogdanovic has missed the last three games and projected lineups have him out for Monday night too. Conley appears more likely to return at point guard.
Prediction
Brooklyn is only 9-18 ATS against the Western Conference this season. It’s a quick turnaround for the Jazz, but it’s a short trip from Madison Square Garden. Given the absence of Irving and Brooklyn’s historically bad home record for bettors, I will back the Jazz to pull this one out for your NBA picks this Monday.
As for a prop I like best, Curry has made multiple threes in all 12 of his appearances with the Nets. He’s hit 14 from deep in his last three games, including seven on Friday. I like him to get at least three in this one.
NBA Pick: Jazz +1 (-110) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
NBA Pick: Seth Curry 3+ Made Threes (-128) at Bovada
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.