Golden State Warriors vs Utah Jazz Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 13/04/2024, 19:14  by Joseph King | Modified on 13/04/2024 at 19:14 in NBA Predictions

The 10th-place Golden State Warriors host the 12th-placed Utah Jazz for the finale of the 2023/24 NBA regular season Sunday. Golden State still has plenty on the line here as they can potentially finish as high as eighth-place should they win and results go their way. While they are currently locked into the play-in tournament with a five game lead over the 11th-placed Rockets, a 10th-place finish means that the Dubs would enter the tournament as the road team and with a loss meaning elimination. Should they secure the eighth-seed, they would get another shot at a lower seeding should they lose the first play-in tournament game. With their record of 45-36, the Warriors have an identical record as the Kings in ninth and trail the eighth-place Lakers by a single game. Golden State needs to win vs the Jazz and have the Kings and Lakers both lose to shoot up to eighth, while they would move up to ninth should they win and either LA or Sacramento lose.

The hosts enter this game following a 114-109 home loss to the Pelicans. The result snapped a three game winning streak for the Warriors although it was only their second loss in the last 10 games. Golden State’s defense has been exceptional over the past few weeks, holding opponents to 100 points or less in five of their last 11 games and giving up only 104.5 points per game on average during that stretch. The Jazz have strung together a late-season winning streak after a 110-109 away victory over the LA Clippers made it two in a row for Utah. The winning streak comes following an ugly 13-game losing streak which ultimately has the visitors’ holding a 31-50 record heading into Sunday’s season finale. Utah showed they are no pushovers in their road win over LA, however it should be noted that most of the Clippers’ starting five played only 5-10 minutes.