In a meeting between two of the best teams in the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz host the Golden State Warriors on the first day of 2022. The Jazz have been making up ground on the Warriors in recent weeks, so this game could have some serious implications for home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Will Utah defeat Golden State tonight? You’ll have to keep reading our Warriors vs. Jazz betting picks and predictions to find out.
Warriors vs Jazz odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The Warriors are getting most of the action in this game and the line reflects that. The Warriors have gone from 5-point underdogs to 4.5-point underdogs. The total, meanwhile, opened up at 221 and is either 222 or 222.5 at the time of this writing.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Warriors vs Jazz predictions
Predictions made on 01/01/2022 at 11:40 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Warriors vs Jazz game info
• Location: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Date: Saturday, January 1, 2022
• Tip-off: 9:00 p.m. ET
• TV: NBA TV
Warriors vs Jazz betting preview
Injuries
Warriors: Draymond Green F (Out), Damion Lee G (Out), Klay Thompson G (Out), James Wiseman C (Out).
Jazz: Mike Conley G (Questionable), Joe Ingles F (Questionable), Eric Paschall F (Questionable).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Jazz are 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 games versus teams with a road winning percentage of 60.0% or greater. Find more NBA betting trends for Warriors vs. Jazz.
Warriors vs Jazz picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
The Warriors are plenty capable of beating the Jazz at full strength, but they’re going to be missing Draymond Green. In a huge matchup like this, that absence is just going to be extremely difficult to overcome. Green might not be the player he was three or four years ago, but he’s still one of the best defenders in basketball. Being without him will make it much harder for the Warriors to steal the advantage in a lot of lineups, and Rudy Gobert should be able to dominate because of it. Instead of having to deal with small-ball lineups with Green at center, Gobert will mostly be up against Kevon Looney. That won’t go well for the Warriors.
Steph Curry’s firepower is going to be hard for the Jazz to overcome, but they do have Mitchell on their side. The young star comes into this game averaging 36.0 points per games over his last two contests. His ability to score the basketball will be massive in a game like this, as it wouldn’t be outrageous if he were to match the offensive production of Curry. At the very least, he’ll consistently put pressure on the rim and will also do his part in kicking out to Utah’s great group of shooters.
All in all, the Warriors don’t have the mismatches against this Jazz team that they do against everybody else. That would change with Green back in the lineup and a healthy version of Thompson, but we’ll just have to wait for that enticing showdown.
Prediction: Jazz -4.5 (-106)
Over/Under analysis
With Green out of the lineup, this could turn into a game where the Jazz really light it up. Green is one of the best team defenders in basketball, capable of blowing things up for opponents with his ability to cover ground and lead his teammates. Without him, the Warriors struggled to contain a very mediocre Denver Nuggets team last game. That’s not a good sign heading into this meeting with a Jazz team that is by far the NBA's best on the offensive end. Utah has an offensive rating of 117.0 this season. For the sake of comparison, the Charlotte Hornets are a distant second at 112.8.
Not only are the Jazz elite offensively, but the Warriors should also be able to put up a big number. Curry isn’t going to go down without a fight, and he’ll have help from guys like Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins. With that in mind, it’s just hard to see this not being a very high-scoring game.
It’s also worth noting that the Over is 12-2 when Golden State plays on the road with three or more days of rest under head coach Steve Kerr.
Prediction: Over 221 (-110)
Best bet
The Jazz are 19-9 ATS when coming off a home win over the last two seasons, and they are also 38-21 ATS when favored by between 3.5 and 9.5 points at home in that span. If that’s not enough, Utah is also 28-17-1 ATS when coming off a home win by 10 points or more. This team is playing well right now, and the Jazz tend to run hot and cold. That’s not a great sign for the Warriors.
When factoring in that Utah has one of the best home-court advantages in the league, it’s just hard to go against the Jazz in this spot. They’re the more talented team at the moment — partly because of health — and they’ll be out to make a statement.
Pick: Jazz +4.5 (-106)
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