Two of the top three teams in the Western Conference lock horns Sunday in Salt Lake City, with the Golden State Warriors paying the Utah Jazz a visit. 

Catch this game live on Sunday, January 2, at 10 AM, Manila time.

Away: Golden State Warriors (27-7/16-3 on the road)

Projected Starting Five:

  • PG: Stephen Curry
  • SG: Jordan Poole
  • SF: Andrew Wiggins
  • PF: Otto Porter Jr.
  • C: Kevon Looney

The Warriors got an extra day of rest after their scheduled Friday road game against the Denver Nuggets got postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak over the side of the Nuggets. That means Golden State is still seeking a rebound from its 89-86 home loss to the Nuggets last Wednesday. There should be more help for Stephen Curry this Sunday than in the loss to the Nuggets, with Jordan Poole expected to take the floor for the first time since landing on the health & safety protocols. 

Curry scored 23 points in the Nuggets game but shot just 6/16 from the field. As a team, Golden Shot shot just 41.7FG%. Denver did a good job of limiting the Warriors’ shots, as Golden State only had 72 shot attempts, but expect that to normalize against the Jazz, who are letting opponents take 91.1 field goal attempts per contest – just 27th in the NBA. Golden State owns an 11-1 ATS record in its last 12 games vs. a team with a winning percentage better than .600.

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Home: Utah Jazz (26-9/14-6 at home)

Projected Starting Five:

  • PG: Mike Conley (questionable)
  • SG: Donovan Mitchell
  • SF: Bojan Bogdanovic
  • PF: Royce O’Neale
  • C: Rudy Gobert

The Jazz are playing sweet music. They have been unstoppable of late, having won all of their last six games, including their 120-108 takedown of the Minnesota Timberwolves at home Saturday. Donovan Mitchell exploded for 39 points on 12/21 shooting from the field and 6/11 from behind the arc. Utah beat the T’wolves despite missing Mike Conley Jr. and Joe Ingles. Both missed the first leg of a back-to-back but both could be available to play against the much more powerful Golden State squad.

Rudy Gobert powered through with 14 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks against the Karl-Anthony Towns-less Minnesota in what could be a preview of what he would do versus the Warriors, who are still without Draymond Green. And while the Warriors have Curry, the Jazz, as a team, are the best outside-shooting team in the NBA. Utah is burying 15.0 3-pointers per game on 36.5 3FG%. The Jazz are also 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games against Golden State.

PREDICTIONS:

Spread: The Warriors have the best player, but the Jazz are just the better-scoring team. And with Gobert operating without Green to bother him, this is looking like a cover (-4) for Utah.

Over/Under: The firepower is there for the Warriors and Jazz to make this game a shootout, but Golden State losing the possession battle, just like in its loss to Denver, could end up with the total hitting the Under (222.0).

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