10:10 pm
May 1

Raptors @ Jazz

Who will WIN this matchup?

Toronto Raptors (26-37)

@ Utah Jazz (45-18)

 

Current odds:

Toronto Raptors: (+230)

Utah Jazz: (-270)

 

• The spread for the game is Utah by 6.5 points.

• The last time the Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors played, Donovan Mitchell scored eight points in the final minute and a half and finished with 31 points to lead the visiting Jazz to a 115-112 win on March 19 in Tampa, Fla. That won’t happen Saturday night in Salt Lake City when the Jazz (45-18) and Raptors (26-37) meet again. The two-time All-Star is out with a sprained ankle, which has had him sidelined for two-plus weeks. The Jazz also will be without All-Star point guard Mike Conley, who’s dealing with a strained hamstring.

• Utah’s other All-Star — center Rudy Gobert — wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort during the loss that resulted in the Suns tying the Jazz for the best record in the league. Phoenix owns the tiebreaker over Utah, thanks to its 3-0 season series win. Utah still has nine games to sort things out and reclaim the No. 1 seed. It might help that the next five games are in their own arena and in front of an increased number of fans — now 6,500, the team announced Friday.

• Like the Jazz, the Raptors enter this game having lost three of four overall. Toronto stumbled at Denver on Wednesday despite getting 20-point performances from three different players. Denver used a 12-0 surge at the beginning of the fourth quarter against Raptors’ reserves to turn a two-point lead into a 121-111 victory.

• Toronto played without injured starter Fred VanVleet, who has a hip injury. Malachi Flynn scored 16 in his place against the Nuggets, while OG Anunoby totaled a team-best 25 points and Kyle Lowry and Khem Birch both tallied 20 points in the loss. Toronto is on a four-game road trip that finishes in Los Angeles with games against the Lakers and Clippers on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Utah Jazz
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