The Brooklyn Nets will aim to right the ship on Tuesday evening when they host the Utah Jazz. After opening the season with two victories, Brooklyn has lost four of the last five games, including its last two contests. Utah, meanwhile, has won two straight and holds a 3-0 record away from home so far this season. Derrick Favors (knee) is listed as probable for the Jazz. The Nets will be missing Kevin Durant (protocols) and Spencer Dinwiddie (knee) in this matchup.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. ET in Brooklyn. William Hill Sportsbook lists the Jazz as 4.5-point road favorites, while the over-under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 225.5 in the latest Jazz vs. Nets odds. Before you make any Nets vs. Jazz picks, be sure to see the NBA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's proven computer model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, and it returned over $5,000 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks last season. The model is up nearly $8,100 over the past two seasons. Dating back to last season, it is on a stunning 65-36 roll on top-rated picks against the spread, returning almost $2,500 on those selections alone. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Jazz vs. Nets. You can visit SportsLine now to see the picks. Here are the NBA odds from William Hill and betting trends for Nets vs. Jazz:
- Jazz vs. Nets spread: Jazz -4.5
- Jazz vs. Nets over-under: 225.5 points
- Jazz vs. Nets money line: Jazz -190, Nets +160
- UTAH: The Jazz are 3-3 against the spread this season
- BKN: The Nets are 2-5 against the spread in 2020-21
Why the Jazz can cover
The Jazz are a top-10 team on both ends of the floor in the early going. Utah is scoring nearly 1.13 points per possession while posting a 54.6 percent effective field goal shooting mark, and the Jazz are legitimately elite on the offensive glass. Quin Snyder's team is grabbing 29.9 percent of its own missed shots, which currently ranks No. 1 in the NBA and leads to helpful second-chance opportunities. Brooklyn is also struggling in two key areas defensively, with poor defensive rebounding and a very low turnover creation rate of 13.2 percent.
Defensively, Rudy Gobert is arguably the league's best anchor, keying a top-10 overall defense that is allowing only 1.07 points per possession. The Jazz are second-best in the league in free throw rate allowed, with top-eight marks in effective field goal percentage allowed (50.6 percent) and defensive rebound rate (77.7 percent).
Why the Nets can cover
Brooklyn has real strengths on both sides of the ball to this point in the 2020-21 season, with a potent offense at the forefront. The Nets are a top-10 team in the NBA in offensive rating, free throw rate and effective field goal percentage. From there, Kyrie Irving is averaging 26.8 points and 6.3 assists per game, and the Nets have floor-spacers like Joe Harris and Taurean Prince to create extra room.
Defensively, the Nets are above-average in points allowed per possession (1.079) and free throw rate, with the No. 2 mark in the league in shooting efficiency allowed. The Jazz are a bottom-tier team in taking care of the ball, committing a turnover on 16.2 percent of possessions this season, and Utah also struggles to create free throw attempts, with a bottom-10 mark in free throw rate.
How to make Jazz vs. Nets picks
SportsLine's model is leaning over on the total, with 11 players projected to score in double figures. The model also says one side of the spread hits nearly 60 percent of the time. You can only see that pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Jazz vs. Nets? And which side of the spread hits nearly 60 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Nets vs. Jazz spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks.
