Cleveland Cavaliers at Utah Jazz Betting Preview
10 January 2023
There are plenty of NBA games set to take place on Tuesday, January 10, but a lot of the focus is going to be in Utah, where the Jazz host the Cleveland Cavaliers. These two teams completed a big trade in the offseason, and there will be several players facing off against their former team.
Cleveland seems to have gotten the better of that trade up to this point, as they are an impressive 26-15 this season. The Cavaliers have won four of their last five games, and they are making a big run up the Eastern Conference standings.
Utah got off to an extremely fast start this season, but things have started to unravel since the beginning of December. The Jazz have now lost four of their last five games, and they come into this game with a record of just 20-23.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are 3.5-point betting favorites over the Utah Jazz.
Mitchell Makes Cavs Dangerous
Frew teams in the NBA have as much size as what Cleveland can throw at opponents, but they also now have a superstar. Donovan Mitchell was a part of the big trade this offseason, and he is scoring close to 29 points per game this season.
Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen give the Cavaliers two great players in the paint, and those two have combined for 27 points and 19 rebounds per game. Getting easy buckets in the paint allows Mitchell to have room to operate on the perimeter.
The Cavaliers are also coming into this game with confidence on defense after slowing down the Phoenix Suns in their most recent win. Cleveland is playing well on both sides of the court over the last few weeks.
Jazz Just Not Defending
The Utah Jazz are going to have to find a way to get some stops on defense if they are going to get back to winning. Utah has allowed at least 114 points in each of their last five games, and that puts too much pressure on the offense to step up.
The Jazz are a team that does most of their damage from the perimeter, but that also means that defending the paint is going to be a challenge. Utah will try to speed up the tempo in this game in an attempt to wear down the bigs from Cleveland.
Lauri Markkanen is having a huge season for Utah, as he leads the way with 24.5 points this season.
Cavaliers Crush the Jazz
There is always going to be some extra motivation and excitement when these two teams meet up, but that won’t affect how the game is played. Cleveland is a team with a ton of size, but they also have the ability to be led by Mitchell.
The success of the Jazz relies on making shots from deep, but they just don’t have enough consistent offense to win games. Utah can keep this game close for three quarters, but they are eventually going to run out of steam in what will be a rout.
Bet the Cleveland Cavaliers -3.0 as they roll to a double-digit victory over the Utah Jazz.
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All Media on this page by Associated Press.
