Minnesota Timberwolves vs Utah Jazz Prediction, 12/31/2021 NBA Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Utah Jazz

Date: Friday, December 31, 2021

Location: Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: AT&T SportsNet

The Utah Jazz (25-9) will play the Minnesota Timberwolves (16-18) at Vivint Arena on Friday.

The Timberwolves faced off with the Knicks and took a loss by a score of 96-88 in their last contest. Minnesota wrapped up the game with a 40.0% field goal percentage (34 of 85) and knocked down 7 of their 38 shots from 3-point land. At the charity stripe, the Timberwolves buried 13 of their 20 shots for a percentage of 65.0%. When discussing getting rebounds, they collected 45 with 10 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 22 assists for the contest as well as creating 4 turnovers and earning 6 steals. When talking about defense, Minnesota allowed the other team to go 41.1% from the floor on 37 out of 90 shooting. New York doled out 54 dimes and had 20 steals for the matchup. Furthermore, New York collected 39 rebounds (15 offensive, 24 defensive) and had 11 rejections. New York finished the game at 37.5% at the free throw line by knocking down 6 of their 16 tries. They knocked down 16 out of their 40 attempts from beyond the arc. Regarding personal fouls, the Timberwolves left the arena with 22 while the Knicks finished the game with 15 personal fouls.

Jaden McDaniels is a guy who came through for the game. McDaniels shot 63.6% from the field but had no assists when the game ended. He played 36 mins and snagged 6 rebounds. He totaled 18 points on 7 out of 11 shooting.

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Minnesota will take the court with a win-loss mark of 16-18 for the season. They average 108.1 points per game (14th in basketball) while going 42.9% from the field. The Timberwolves are connecting on 34.0% on shots from 3-point land (481 of 1,416) and 76.5% from the free throw line. As a team, Minnesota is snagging 45.3 rebounds per contest and has earned 802 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 19th in the league in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 15.2 times per contest and as a team they are committing 22.3 fouls per game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Timberwolves are able to force 16.8 turnovers per game while drawing 20.4 personal fouls. They currently rank 22nd in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 864 relinquished this year. The Timberwolves defense is allowing a FG percentage of 44.7% (1,315 of 2,942) and they relinquish 47.1 boards per game as a squad. They are relinquishing 33.8% on shots from downtown and they rank 19th in the league in points per game from their opponents (108.8).

The last time they took the court, the Jazz went home victorious with a score of 120-105 when they played the Trail Blazers. In reference to how they attacked the glass, Utah permitted Portland to collect 34 in all (11 on the offensive glass). They went 35.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 14 out of 40 and ended up going 17 of 24 at the free throw line (70.8%). The Jazz permitted the Trail Blazers to make 37 of 88 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.0% for the game. When the game finished, the Jazz went 46 for 87 from the floor which had them at 52.9%. Concerning shooting from 3-point land, Utah converted 8 of their 29 tries (27.6%). They were able to convert 20 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 62.5%. The Trail Blazers were called for 10 fouls for the contest which took the Jazz to the free throw line for a total of 32 tries. They turned the ball over 11 times, while earning 6 steals in this contest. The Jazz corralled 33 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards for a total of 46 for this game.

Rudy Gobert pitched in for the Jazz in this game. He buried 8 out of 10 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 80.0%, and tallied 14 rebounds. Gobert earned 22 points in his 29 minutes on the hardwood, but finished this game without an assist.

Utah has a mark of 25-9 for the year. The Jazz are committing 18.8 personal fouls every game and they go 76.4% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 22.8 times per game (21st in the NBA) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 14.6 times per contest. Utah has totaled 3,941 points for the year (115.9 per game) and they grab 47.6 boards per game. As an offense, the Jazz are hitting on 47.8% from the floor, which is 1st in basketball.

The Jazz on the defensive side of the court are 7th in the league in points given up per game with 105.6. They are forcing 12.1 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 44.1% from the field (9th in the NBA). The Utah defense gives up 32.9% on three-point shots (378 of 1,150) and their opponents are connecting on 76.3% of their foul shots. They give up 21.9 dimes and 41.8 rebounds per contest, which is ranked 4th and 3rd in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Minnesota

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