Portland Trail Blazers vs Utah Jazz Prediction, 12/2/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs Utah Jazz

Date: Saturday, December 2, 2023

Location: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: KJZZ

The Portland Trail Blazers (6-12) are on their way to Delta Center on Saturday where they will take on the Utah Jazz (6-13).

The Trail Blazers faced the Cavaliers and notched a win by a score of 103-95 in their last contest. Concerning fouls, the Trail Blazers finished with 17 and the Cavaliers totaled 15 fouls. They also buried 7 out of their 32 attempts from distance. Cleveland went 100.0% from the free throw line by burying 12 of 12 attempts. Additionally, Cleveland grabbed 35 rebounds (14 offensive, 21 defensive) and got 4 rejections. Cleveland totaled 25 dimes and had 12 steals in this contest. With regard to defense, Portland allowed their opponent to shoot 42.7% from the field on 38 out of 89 shooting. They also recorded 29 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 17 turnovers and earning 10 steals. When it comes to pulling down boards, they collected 40 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Trail Blazers buried 11 of 11 shots for a rate of 100.0%. Portland ended the game with a 50.6% field goal percentage (39 of 77) and converted 14 of their 35 3-point attempts.

Shaedon Sharpe is a guy who was a major contributor in this contest. Sharpe finished 73.3% from the field and recorded 5 dimes. He was on the court for 39 mins and also pulled down 10 rebounds. He scored 29 points on 11 of 15 shooting.

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Portland heads into this contest with a mark of 6-12 on the campaign. They turn it over 16.7 times per game and as a unit they are committing 20.4 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Portland is snagging 40.7 boards per game and is sitting with 400 dimes so far this year, which has them ranked 30th in the league in terms of passing. The Trail Blazers are connecting on 33.8% on shots from downtown (198 of 585) and 78.9% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 104.7 points per game (30th in basketball) while shooting 43.8% from the field.

When they are on the defensive end, the Trail Blazers are able to force 16.9 turnovers per game and they draw 18.9 fouls. They concede 33.9% on shots from distance and they are 10th in basketball in PPG allowed (111.6). The Trail Blazers defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 48.2% (745 of 1,546) and they surrender 45.1 boards per game as a basketball team. They currently rank 13th in the league in giving up assists with 469 relinquished for the year.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Jazz took a defeat with a final score of 101-90 when they faced the Timberwolves. The Jazz snagged 38 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 51 for this contest. They gave up possession of the ball 19 times, while earning 6 steals in the game. The Timberwolves committed 16 fouls for this game which took the Jazz to the free throw line for 14 shots. They were able to make 13 of them for a percentage of 92.9%. In the matter of shots from beyond the arc, Utah made 11 out of 34 attempts (32.4%). Overall, the Jazz finished the game shooting 33 for 87 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 37.9%. The Jazz allowed the Timberwolves to make 39 of their 89 attempts from the floor which had them at 43.8% in this matchup. They finished the game shooting 37.1% from three-point range by connecting on 13 of 35 and ended up shooting 10 out of 13 at the free throw line (76.9%). When it comes to how they attacked the glass, Utah allowed Minnesota to collect 42 in all (10 offensive).

Simone Fontecchio ended up being a major contributor for the Jazz in this contest. He knocked down 6 of 12 in this game for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and accounted for 5 rebounds. Fontecchio earned 16 points in his 34 minutes on the court and had 5 dimes for this contest.

Utah has a record of 6-13 for the campaign. As an offense, the Jazz are shooting 44.5% from the floor, which has them ranked 26th in basketball. Utah has 2,123 pts so far this year (111.7 per contest) and they pull down 46.8 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 26.6 times per contest (8th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 17.7 times per contest. The Jazz commit 20.0 personal fouls per game and they shoot 80.7% from the free throw line.

The Jazz on the defensive end are ranked 25th in the league in PPG allowed with 118.7. They are forcing 13.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 48.8% from the field (23rd in the league). The Utah defense gives up 36.6% on 3-pointers (254 of 694) and opponents are making 77.3% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 28.1 assists and 42.4 boards every game, which ranks 27th and 7th in basketball.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Utah

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