Denver Nuggets vs Utah Jazz Prediction, 5/7/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Denver Nuggets vs Utah Jazz

Date: Friday, May 7, 2021

Location: Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: Altitude

Odds/Point Spread: Denver (+1.5)

The Utah Jazz (48-18) host the Denver Nuggets (44-22) at Vivint Arena on Friday. The odds on this contest have Utah as 1.5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 224.5.

The Denver Nuggets took the court against the New York Knicks and earned the victory with a final of 113-97 in their last game. Denver ended with a 37.8% FG percentage (37 of 98) and knocked down 12 of their 39 3-pointers. At the free throw line, the Nuggets converted 27 of their 33 attempts for a rate of 81.8%. With respect to getting rebounds, they compiled 64 with 18 of them being offensive. They also dished out 23 assists in the matchup while forcing the opposition into 15 turnovers and having 13 steals. Regarding defending, Denver allowed the other team to go 38.4% from the field on 33 of 86 shooting. New York earned 18 dimes and had 6 steals for this game. Moreover, New York collected 42 rebounds (6 offensive, 36 defensive) and got 7 rejections. New York shot 66.7% from the free throw line by burying 18 of 27 attempts. They also buried 13 of 35 attempts from three-point range.

Nikola Jokic is one guy who had an impact in the matchup. He accounted for 32 points on 10 out of 16 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 29:08 mins and also pulled down 12 rebounds. Jokic walked away from this one shooting 62.5% from the floor and recorded 6 dimes. Someone else that was a factor in the game for the Nuggets was Michael Porter Jr.. He totaled 6 rebounds in his 25:26 min on the basketball court. He walked away from this one shooting 58.3% from the field in this contest by hitting 7-of-12 (17 points). When the time ran out, Porter totaled 3 assists.

Denver enters this one with a record of 44-22 so far this year. They currently have an average of 115.1 points per contest (7th in the NBA) while hitting 48.5% from the field. The Nuggets are connecting on 37.8% on 3-pointers (848 of 2,245) and 79.7% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Denver is pulling down 44.8 boards per game and is sitting with 1,776 assists on the campaign, which ranks 2nd in the NBA in terms of passing. They are turning it over 13.5 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 19.0 fouls per contest. On the defensive end, the Nuggets are forcing their opponents into 14.1 turnovers per game and they draw 19.3 fouls. The Nuggets defensively are allowing a FG percentage of 46.8% (929 of 1,272) and they concede 41.0 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They currently rank 28th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,715 relinquished on the campaign. They are conceding 36.3% on three-point shots and they rank 8th in basketball in PPG allowed (109.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Utah Jazz took home the win by a final score of 126-94 when they played the San Antonio Spurs. The Jazz snagged 46 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 53 in the matchup. They also turned it over 14 times, while getting 5 steals in the game. The Spurs were called for 13 personal fouls for the contest which got the Jazz to the free throw line for a total of 14 attempts. They were able to convert 10 of them for a rate of 71.4%. Concerning shots from 3-point land, Utah converted 18 of 41 tries (43.9%). Overall, the Jazz shot 49 for 88 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 55.7%. The Jazz permitted the Spurs to bury 37 of their 92 attempts from the field which had them at 40.2% for the game. They finished 30.4% from 3-point land by going 7 out of 23 and walked away from this one shooting 13 out of 20 at the free throw line (65.0%). When it comes to attacking the glass, Utah allowed San Antonio to snag 35 in all (9 on the offensive glass).

Bojan Bogdanovic pitched in for the Jazz in this game. He knocked down 10 of 13 in this matchup for a field goal percentage of 76.9%, and totaled 2 rebounds. Bogdanovic had 24 points in his 25:36 minutes on the court, but wasn't able to earn an assist. Someone else who came through for Utah was Joe Ingles. He wrapped the game up with 7 assists in his 25:24 mins on the hardwood, and he converted 5 out of 11 from the floor. Ingles ended up shooting 45.5% from the floor and also collecting 14 points and 5 boards.

Utah has a win-loss mark of 48-18 this season. Utah has scored 7,687 points for the season (116.5 per game) and they grab 48.2 rebounds per game. The Jazz commit 18.6 fouls per contest while shooting 79.5% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Jazz are connecting on 46.9% from the field, which is ranked 14th in the league. They are dishing out assists 23.8 times per game (22nd in the league) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 14.2 times per game. The Jazz on the defensive side of the court are 3rd in the league in PPG surrendered with 107.0. They give up 22.2 assists and 42.8 boards every game, which is 1st and 9th in the league. The Utah defense surrenders 33.9% on shots from beyond the arc (706 of 2,081) and opponents are converting on 76.4% of their foul shots. They are able to force 11.5 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 44.6% from the floor (2nd in the NBA).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Denver (+1.5)

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