The Philadelphia 76ers have yet to win three games in a row this season. A golden opportunity for them to pull that off comes this weekend, as they visit the lowly Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Will the Sixers complete the “trifecta”? Or, will the Jazz trip up Philly?

Catch this game live on Sunday, December 29, 2024 at 10:30 AM, Manila time

Away: Philadelphia 76ers (11-17, 6-8 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Tyrese Maxey
  • Kelly Oubre Jr.
  • Paul George
  • Guerschon Yabusele
  • Joel Embiid (Questionable)

The 76ers are having a resurgence after their brutal start to the season. They have won four of their last five games, and that includes their 118-114 takedown of the defending NBA champions Boston Celtics on Thursday at TD Garden. Tyrese Maxey dropped 33 points with 12 assists in that game while Joel Embiid shook off an unfortunate pregame incident to finish with 27 points.

 In a perfect world, Embiid will be a lock to play this Sunday, but that is just not the case, with the former NBA Most Valuable Player listed as questionable for the Jazz game with a left foot sprain. But with Maxey and Paul George healthy, the Sixers should feel confident they can take care of business against the lethargic Jazz. George can use some punching bag like Utah to recover from a salty 4-for-15 shooting (15 points) in the Boston game. With or without Embiid, the Sixers can be expected to feast against Utah’s defense which is just 28th in the league with 119.6 points allowed per contest.

The 76ers have covered the spread in seven of their last 10 games. The total has also gone 5-4-1 in that same stretch.

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Home: Utah Jazz (7-22, 2-10 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Isaiah Collier
  • Collin Sexton
  • Svi Mykhailiuk
  • Lauri Markkanen
  • Walker Kessler

Just when it looked like the Jazz have something good going for them after winning back-to-back games for the first time this season, they reverted to being, well, the Jazz. Utah finished their five-game road trip with consecutive losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers (124-113) and the Portland Trail Blazers (122-120) last Tuesday and Friday, respectively. Still, being back home for the Sixers game could make Utah feel better. Utah has beaten the spread in three of its last four games in Salt Lake City against the 76ers. 

Utah could be without forward John Collins again. Collins has missed the last two Jazz games with a hip issue and is listed as questionable for the meeting with the 76ers. If he can’t go, former Kansas Jayhawks star Svi Mykhailiuk could see more work than usual again. Mykhailiuk has averaged 14.5 points with 47.1 percent shooting from behind the arc in the last two Jazz outings.

The Jazz have gone 4-0 ATS in their last four outings. 

Picks

Spread: Utah Jazz (+7.0)

Over/Under: Under (222.5)

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