8:08 pm
December 11

Jazz @ Timberwolves

Who will WIN this matchup?

Utah Jazz (13-11)

@ Minnesota Timberwolves (10-13)

 

Current odds:

Utah Jazz: (-115)

Minnesota Timberwolves: (-105)

 

The line for this game is Utah by 1 point.

A win over the Memphis Grizzlies looked more like the outlier when the Utah Jazz went out and suffered a 14-point home loss in the next contest. The Jazz will try to avoid falling for the seventh time in nine games when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. Utah’s two wins in the last eight games both came over the Grizzlies and Monday’s 104-90 setback against the Oklahoma City Thunder marked the fourth time in the last six losses that it fell by at least 14 points. “Generally speaking, we’ve clearly struggled over the last several games, in a number of areas,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters after the latest loss. “Defensively, without getting too technical because I think there were a number of issues throughout the game, I think we’re better than that. There’s no easy answer other than hard work.”

The Timberwolves are fighting through their own slump and suffered a fifth consecutive loss when they closed out a four-game trip with a 125-109 loss at Phoenix on Monday. Minnesota is surrendering an average of 128.4 during the slide and let each of Phoenix’s five starters knock down multiple 3-pointers.

Utah failed to reach 100 points in any of its last three losses and shot 40.4 percent from the floor on Monday while recording 19 assists and 15 turnovers. “We’re not playing the way we want to play, and we’re not the team that we can be,” Jazz center Rudy Gobert told reporters. “So, it’s frustrating. All the other teams can see it, and they just come and go at us. … We just forget about what’s important and we fall back into our demons.” Gobert did his best to keep his team in the game on Monday, collecting 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting and 17 rebounds.

Minnesota’s players were visibly frustrated during Monday’s loss and held a team meeting before allowing the media into the locker room. “We talked to each other and addressed a few things,” forward Robert Covington told reporters. “Just got to move forward. Got another game Wednesday. Can’t let things linger. … We told each other we got to just get back to ourselves, back to the fun we were having in the beginning of the year.” Covington didn’t seem to be having much fun while going 1-of-5 from the floor – 0-of-4 from beyond the arc – in Monday’s setback.

Jazz PG Mike Conley (hamstring) sat out the last three games and is day-to-day.

Timberwolves C Karl-Anthony Towns collected 33 points and 15 rebounds on Monday, snapping a string of three straight games without a double-double.

The visiting team took each end of a home-and-home set last month, with Utah earning a 103-95 victory at Minnesota.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Minnesota Timberwolves