Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets NBA Pick for January 5th, 2022

This Wednesday night we have a great NBA matchup on ESPN. The Utah Jazz will be taking on the Denver Nuggets for what should be a good game. The Jazz are surging like they usually are, but the Nuggets are a respectable team.

The Jazz finished last season with the best regular season record and they are right back at it this season. They are an impressive 27-10 on the year and the Suns and Warriors are the only two teams with better records.

The Nuggets are doing just fine at 18-17 with a couple of their best players out with long term injuries. Let’s take a look at what the odds are looking like for this game on Wednesday night.

As we can see from the odds, the Jazz will be coming into this one as the road favorites. The point total isn’t too high as well, as the Jazz typically play fast (12th in pace), while the Nuggets like to slow it down (25th in pace).

Additionally, most games between these two teams hit the over. Utah has hit the over in 19 out of 37 total games (52.8%), while Denver is right behind them hitting the over in 18 out of 35 total games (51.4%).

You can find these exact odds on BetOnline, so head over there to place your bets.

Let’s take a look at how each team can win this game and my final prediction for this game.

The Jazz can win any game and this one is no different. They are a very talented basketball team that can do many things at a high level. Utah plays the Nuggets four times total this season, this game being their second of the year. They were able to win their first game against them to the score of 122-110.

In that game, the Nuggets actually played pretty well. They shot over 50% from the field and better than the Jazz from 3 point range (35.7% vs. 30.8%). Even though they shot better in those two categories, the Jazz were still able to win by 12.

The Nuggets’ lineup will be missing some key players from their first matchup with the Jazz as well. As you probably already know Jamal Murray and Michael Porter are out for long term injuries, other players have been forced to step it up.

Monte Morris will be missing this game due to a knee injury, so the Nuggets will be even thinner in the backcourt. The Jazz have a top tier trio of players that can take advantage of the Nuggets lack of depth.

Rudy Gobert is also a nice defensive piece to have in this matchup as well. You can’t really shut down Jokic fully, but you can limit him to a good game rather than a great game. Gobert should be able to hold his own against the reigning NBA MVP.

The Jazz haven’t been the best at covering the spread at 18-19 ATS (48.7%), but the Nuggets are even worse at 15-20 ATS (42.9%). They are the better team and the healthier team for this game.

Speaking of the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic is having himself another amazing year. Considering the Nuggets’ terrible injury luck, they still find themselves one game over .500 at 19-18. That is mostly due to Jokic’s incredible talent.

Jokic is averaging 25.7 points, 14 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per game this year. In advanced stats, he is also the leader in VORP (Value of a Replacement Player). He is truly one of the best players in the NBA and is capable of leading his team to victory.

Even though Jokic is so good, he still needs a bit of help. You need to have multiple options in order to be a successful basketball team and beat tough opponents like the Jazz.

As I said earlier, the Nuggets have been banged up with big injuries. Other players like Will Barton and Aaron Gordon need to have solid games if they want to beat the Jazz. They both can be pretty inconsistent, but a big game is a must for them Wednesday night.

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— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 4, 2022

Since the Jazz are such a good team, the Nuggets are going to need to play flawlessly. They also might need a couple of things to go their way. Jokic has the capability of having monster games on any given night, maybe this one will be another one of those games.

As you can tell by both of my sections above, the Jazz have more reasons they can win this game than the Nuggets. The Nuggets are banged up brutally and the Jazz are a very tough team to beat.

The Jazz have been incredible on both sides of the court. They rank 1st in Offensive Rating and follow that up with the 5th best Defensive Rating. The Nuggets are nowhere near the Jazz in both categories, ranking 20th in Offensive Rating and 17th in Defensive Rating.

I simply cannot seem to find an intriguing reason to bet on the Nuggets, which means I am taking the Jazz in this one. Head over to the best NBA betting sites to bet along with me.

You can also check out our NBA picks page for more recommended bets.