The Utah Jazz travel to South Beach to take on the Miami Heat on Monday night.
The Jazz have put together their longest winning streak of the season at five games and they have won six out of their last seven games heading to Miami. In their last game, the Jazz won easily over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night. On the other hand, the Heat have won back to back games and they are winners of three out of their last four games played. Miami suffered a surprise loss to Memphis last Tuesday but that defeat was sandwiched between big road wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers.
The Jazz have won five straight games to keep pace with the Southwest Division-leading Denver Nuggets who also have five consecutive victories and are two games up on Utah heading to Sunday’s games. The Jazz are coming off a 114-107 road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 26 points while Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 19 rebounds for Utah who also shot 10-19 from behind the three-point area in the second half. Donovan Mitchell added 20 points and Joe Ingles had 14 points for the winners who made 19 out of 20 free throws awarded.
The Jazz rank 22nd in the NBA in scoring at 107.4 points per game. They are 13th in rebounding at 45.7 boards grabbed per contest and they are also 27th in passing at only 21.7 assists per game. Defensively, the Jazz are 8th in the league in scoring defense at 106.3 points per game allowed.
The Miami Heat continue their solid play this season. The Heat are 21-8 on the season are are a big nine games ahead of the Orlando Magic in the lopsided Southeast Division. Miami is currently the third seed in the Eastern Conference behind the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlantic Division leaders Boston Celtics.
In their last game played, the Heat led wire to wire and dumped the hapless New York Knicks 129-114 last Friday night in Miami. Goran Dragic returned from injury to score 18 points and issue 8 assists to pace the Heat who improved to 12-1 at home this season. Duncan Robinson shot 6-10 from three-point land while Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro added 15 and 12, respectively.
The Heat are the 9th best scoring team in the NBA at 112.7 points per game this season. They rank 18th in rebounding at 45.0 boards grabbed per contest and are 8th overall in passing at 25.8 assists per contest. Miami is the 9th best defensive team in the league at 107.4 points per game allowed.
Utah is 5-0 SU in their last five games played. The Jazz are 4-2 SU in their last six games played on the road. Miami is 15-5 SU in their last 20 games played. The Heat are 13-1 SU in their last 14 games played at home, and 2-8 SU in their last 10 games played against the Northwest Division. Head to head, the Heat are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played against the Jazz.
The Jazz have put together their longest winning streak of the season with five straight wins and they have six wins in their last seven games played. However, Utah’s current win streak has been against opponents who have losing records and they have lost their last four games against teams over .500.
The Heat have been impressive to start the season and despite having many young names on their roster, Erik Spoelstra has found the winning formula. Jimmy Butler has provided veteran leadership, scoring, and defense. Their rookies have been sensational and are playing well off Butler.
Miami is 12-1 SU in 13 home games played this season and they have dominated their opponents at home, outscoring them by an average of over 8 points per game. I like how the Jazz have taken care of business but the Heat are a legit team this season and in my opinion, the home team is playing better and has more weapons on their roster.
Prediction: Miami Heat
The Jazz are 11-17-1 ATS in 29 games played this season. Utah is 5-9-1 ATS in 15 road games played this season. The Heat are 5-1 ATS in their last six games played. Miami is 10-2-1 ATS in 13 home games played this season, and 5-1 ATS in their last six December games. Head to head, the Heat are 4-1 ATS in their last five games played against the Jazz.
The Heat have won by at least five points in five out of their last seven wins and they have outscored their opponents by an average of 8.23 points per game when playing at the AmericanAirlines Arena. The Jazz are on a roll with five straight wins but all five wins came against sub .500 teams. Miami has lost just once in 13 home games this season and are winning big at home. I’ll take the home team here.
Prediction: Heat -4.5
The total has gone over in four out of the last five games played by Utah. The under is 9-6 in the Jazz’s 15 road games played this season but the over is 6-2 in their last 8 games played against the Eastern Conference. The total has gone over in each of the last seven games played by the Heat. The over is 9-4 in Miami’s 13 home games played this season, and the over is also 4-1 in their last five games against the Western Conference.
The Jazz has scored at least 109 points in six out of their last seven games played, including the last five. They have gone over the 210 total in eight out of their last 10 games played. Miami is a very good defensive team but the Heat have allowed more than 110 points in seven out of their last 10 games played and they have topped the 210 total in each of their last 8 games played. I think 210 is too low for these two teams.
Prediction: Over 210
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