Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 11/04/2024, 03:57  by Joseph King | Modified on 11/04/2024 at 04:57 in NBA Predictions

The 12th-place Utah Jazz and the 11th-placed Houston Rockets butt heads in the NBA’s Western Conference on Thursday. With only a few games left in the regular season, both these two teams have been eliminated from contention for the NBA Playoffs. The Jazz have a record of 29-50 and have long conceded the season as they shut down most of their best players for a while now. It’s allowed the Jazz to get a lot of the young players some valuable court time but also means that Utah has rarely been competitive in games over the last few weeks. As a result, the Jazz have lost their last 13 straight and haven’t experienced a win since March 15th. Their most recent outing saw them held to sub-100 points for the first time this campaign on their home court in a 111-95 defeat to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

The Rockets showed a lot of improvement this season under head coach Ime Udoka and looked for a while like they would be able to make the postseason. Unfortunately, they were up against the Lakers and Warriors for the last few play-in tournament spots, with both teams pulling away from Houston in the past few weeks. The Rockets are 39-40 on the year, nearly doubling their 22 win-total from the 2022/23 season. While they are already eliminated from playoff contention with a five-game deficit on the 10th-place Warriors, Houston continue to give 100% effort and play their full-strength lineup. They were able to snap a five-game losing streak in their last appearance, beating the Orlando Magic 118-108 at the Toyota Center. The Rockets have been excellent at home this season but have come undone on the road where they have posted just a 12-26 record.