Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz Prediction, 4/2/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz

Date: Friday, April 2, 2021

Location: Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

Odds/Point Spread: Chicago (+7.5)

The Chicago Bulls (19-27) go to Vivint Arena on Friday where they'll take on the Utah Jazz (36-11). The spread on this matchup has Utah as 7.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 217.

The Chicago Bulls took the court against the Phoenix Suns and went home with a loss by a final score of 121-116 in their last game. Chicago finished the game having earned a 43.4% FG percentage (43 out of 99) and made 11 out of their 33 shots from downtown. At the free throw line, the Bulls made 19 of their 21 attempts for a rate of 90.5%. When discussing pulling down boards, they compiled 50 with 18 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 27 assists for the game in addition to creating 9 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In relation to defense, Chicago let their opponent shoot 56.8% from the field on 46 of 81 shooting. Phoenix dished out 29 dimes and had 6 steals for the matchup. In addition, Phoenix totaled 32 boards (4 offensive, 28 defensive) and added 4 rejections. Phoenix finished the game shooting 75.0% at the free throw line by burying 18 of their 24 attempts. They converted 11 out of their 25 shots from 3-point range.

Nikola Vucevic is a guy who was a major contributor in this contest. He ended up walking away with 24 points on 8 out of 18 shooting. He was on the court for 34:24 mins and pulled down 10 rebounds. Vucevic finished 44.4% from the field and also earned 3 dimes. An additional guy that was a major factor in this matchup for the Bulls was Thaddeus Young. He snagged 10 rebounds in 28:20 min on the basketball court. He ended up going 50.0% from the floor for the matchup via 7-of-14 (19 points). When this game wrapped up, Young earned 4 assists.

Chicago steps onto the court with a record of 19-27 on the campaign. The Bulls are shooting 37.0% on three-point attempts (577 of 1,559) and 80.5% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 112.7 points per contest (13th in the league) while connecting on 47.8% from the floor. They lose possession via turnover 15.9 times per contest and as a team they commit 19.8 personal fouls every game. As a team, Chicago is pulling in 45.0 rebounds per game and has tallied 1,212 assists on the campaign, which ranks 9th in the league in terms of passing the ball. Defensively, the Bulls are able to force 13.4 turnovers per game while drawing 18.5 personal fouls. They give up 35.1% on three-point shots and they rank 24th in the NBA in PPG from their opponents (114.0). The Bulls defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 47.6% (615 of 853) and they surrender 42.3 rebounds per contest as a team. They currently rank 7th in basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 1,109 relinquished this season.

In their last game, the Utah Jazz walked away with a victory by a final of 111-107 when they faced the Memphis Grizzlies. The Jazz pulled down 35 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 46 for the contest. They coughed up the ball 14 times, while earning 10 steals for the game. The Grizzlies committed 20 personal fouls in this contest which took the Jazz to the free throw line for 25 shots. They were able to knock down 19 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 76.0%. In relation to three-point shots, Utah converted 16 of 49 attempts (32.7%). At the conclusion of this game, the Jazz went 38 out of 89 from the field which gave them a rate of 42.7%. The Jazz permitted the Grizzlies to knock down 42 of 90 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 46.7% for this game. They finished shooting 27.8% from three-point range by shooting 5 out of 18 and ended up going 18 out of 23 at the free throw line (78.3%). Regarding team rebounding, Utah allowed Memphis to grab 46 in all (11 offensive).

Mike Conley was important for the Jazz in this contest. He buried 11 out of 18 in this contest for a rate of 61.1%, and had 4 rebounds. Conley tallied 26 points in his 35:19 mins of playing time and accounted for 7 dimes for the contest. An additional guy that was pivotal for Utah was Bojan Bogdanovic. He came away with 3 assists in his 32:13 mins played, and he put in 6 out of 17 from the floor. Bogdanovic ended the game having shot 35.3% from the floor as well as earning 23 points and 5 rebounds.

Utah has a mark of 36-11 on the season. Utah has scored 5,491 points this season (116.8 per game) and they pull down 48.3 rebounds per contest. The Jazz commit 18.7 fouls per game and they shoot 78.5% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offensive execution, the Jazz are shooting 46.7% from the field, which is ranked 14th in the NBA. They are getting an assist 23.7 times per contest (21st in basketball) and they are turning it over 14.3 times per contest. The Jazz on the defensive end are ranked 5th in the league in points per game surrendered with 107.5. They are forcing 11.6 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.7% from the field (3rd in the league). The Utah defense allows 34.6% on shots from behind the 3-point line (500 of 1,445) and opponents are converting on 77.4% of their foul shots. They give up 22.4 dimes and 42.9 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 2nd and 10th in basketball.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Chicago (+7.5)

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