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Jazz, Warriors Square Off by the Bay

Golden State Trying To Keep Pace In Pacific

The Utah Jazz try to inch closer to the top of the Western Conference when they take on the Golden State Warriors in a clash of title contenders on Sunday night. The opening tip for this contest is scheduled for 8:30 pm ET at Chase Center in San Francisco.

The Jazz are coming off a home win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night that snapped a two-game losing streak. Utah is 30-16 and in first place in the Northwest Division, leading the second-place Denver Nuggets by six games.

Andrew Wiggins drives Utah Jazz vs Golden State Warriors Picks
Alex Goodlett/Getty Images/AFP

Golden State also picked up a win on Friday night, edging the Houston Rockets by two points. The Warriors are 33-13 and in second place in the Pacific Division, sitting 3½ games behind the first-place Phoenix Suns and 10 games ahead of the third-place Los Angeles Lakers.

If you want to bet online on this contest, the NBA lines have the Warriors as four-point favorites at home, with the over/under set at 220½ points.

Injury Woes

The Jazz will play without leading scorer Donovan Mitchell for the third straight game as hel deals with a concussion. It’s a big loss for Utah, as Mitchell is ninth in the NBA in scoring at 25.5 points per game while also averaging 4.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists.

The team’s other All-Star, center Rudy Gobert, picked up some of the slack on Friday night, scoring 24 points to go along with 14 rebounds and four blocked shots. Gobert, who leads the NBA in rebounding at 15.0 per game, is listed as questionable for this contest with an ankle injury, but he should be good to go.

Utah also got a big game from Bojan Bogdanovic on Friday night, as he went for 23 points and six rebounds, hitting 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Bogdanovic is averaging 18.1 points per game and should get more looks in the offense as long as Mitchell is sidelined.

Point guard Mike Conley will be a key for the Jazz on both ends of the floor in this one, trying to guard Stephen Curry on one end and running the offense on the other end. Conley is averaging 14.1 points and 5.2 assists this season, but he has to stay out of foul trouble for Utah to be competitive.

Perfectionist

Curry didn’t become the greatest 3-point shooter in NBA history by resting on his laurels. So despite hitting the game-winner against the Rockets on Friday night, Curry was more focused on his 0-for-11 start from the field in the game.

“I know I got to shoot the ball better,” Curry said after Friday’s win. “I want to shoot it better, and I’m gonna shoot it better. I obsess over the shooting numbers because that’s what I do, and that’s what I work on. When you don’t reach those levels, it’s frustrating.”

Curry finished 6-of-21 from the floor, including 4-of-13 from 3-point range. The 33-year-old is averaging 26.3 points to rank sixth in the league while also dishing out 6.2 assists per contest. He’s shooting 38.4% from 3-point range after finishing under 40% from beyond the arc just once in his NBA career: his five-game 2019-20 campaign that ended early due to injury.

Guard Klay Thompson is back in the Warriors lineup after more than two seasons away from the court. He’s played in six games so far this season, averaging 14.7 points but also struggling a bit from 3-point range at just 30.2%.

Forward Andrew Wiggins has been putting up good numbers, averaging 18.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He isn’t the long-range shooter that his heralded teammates are, but he is hitting 41.3% from beyond the arc.

The Warriors are missing a key piece to their lineup in forward Draymond Green, who is expected to miss at least another week with a calf injury. Green leads the team in rebounding (7.6), assists (7.4) and blocks (1.2), and he runs the offense when he’s on the floor, allowing Curry and Thompson to focus on getting open looks.

Warriors Get Home Win

Without Mitchell, the Jazz just aren’t the same team. They’ll compete in this one, but Curry is due to get hot, which isn’t good news for Utah. Look for a better shooting game in this one from the All-Star, as he leads Golden State to the easy win.

When doing your NBA betting, take the Warriors to win and cover at home.

Pick: Golden State Warriors -4

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