8:05 pm
October 30

Jazz @ Bulls

Who will WIN this matchup?

Utah Jazz (4-0)

@ Chicago Bulls (4-1)

 

Current odds:

Utah Jazz: (-170)

Chicago Bulls: (+150)

 

The line for this game is Jazz by 3.5 points.

The Chicago Bulls have an opportunity Saturday night at home to help the Utah Jazz enter a group that they just joined on Thursday. That group? NBA teams with at least one loss. Before Thursday’s slate of games, Chicago, Utah and the Golden State Warriors were the only three teams that had yet to take a loss early in the 2021-22 season. The Jazz remained in that exclusive club, routing the Houston Rockets 122-91, but the Bills and Warriors both took losses in their games against the New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies, respectively.

Utah has its work cut out for it in order to stay unbeaten for much longer. After Saturday’s game at Chicago, the Jazz travel to Milwaukee for the second half of a back-to-back against the defending champion Bucks on Halloween Night. Following a home game two nights later against the Sacramento Kings, the Jazz have three road games in four nights at Atlanta, Miami and Orlando.

Getting a team effort as they had in the blowout win at Houston will only help the Jazz’s chances. Sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic led seven Utah players in double figures with 19 points to boost the Jazz to their first 4-0 start since the 2006-07 season. Leading games by as many as 36 points like they did in Houston will go a long way in making them happy, too.

The Bulls, meanwhile, just slipped from the ranks of the undefeated, falling 104-103 against New York. All-Star Zach LaVine, who had 25 points, enjoyed the challenge.

DeMar DeRozan misfired on a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to prevent the Bulls from improving to 5-0. LaVine sliced the Knicks’ lead down to one with less than 10 seconds remaining after the Bulls had rallied from down 13 with 2:59 remaining.

LaVine played — and will continue to play — despite having a torn ligament in his left thumb. The star guard said the injury “wasn’t pleasant” to play with, but called it “doable.”

The Bulls are down one starter, though, as Patrick Williams sustained a left wrist injury Thursday. He will have surgery to fix torn ligaments, and he might not return in the regular season.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Utah Jazz