It's arguably the best matchup of Friday night when Utah hosts Washington at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The wizards won four in a row before falling to the Clippers in a game that barely featured defense. The Jazz have split their last 10 games 5-5, but have recently picked up a couple of wins over New Orleans and Sacramento. Utah has won two straight meetings over Washington and they took the most recent matchup back on February 26th by a 102-92 decision. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:00 PM Eastern time and the game can be seen on NBA League Pass, CSN Mid-Atlantic, and Root Sports in Utah.
Wizards (46-29, 1st Southeast)
Washington has exploded on offense, averaging 120.6 points in their last five games. Most of that has been thanks to the tandem of guards John Wall (23.4 ppg, 10.8 apg) and Bradley Beal (23.1 ppg, 3.5 apg). Wall put up a scorching 41 points the last time out against the Clippers and is averaging 37.3 points in his last three games.
He's also accumulated 33 assists to 12 turnovers in the stretch. Wall led the team with 23 points the last time out against the Jazz. The game didn't turn up in their favor as they were held to 42.5 percent shooting and got blasted on the boards 50-28. They'll need to have a much better effort from their center, Marcin Gortat (10.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg).
Jazz (46-29, 1st Northwest)
Utah has seemed to clean things up with three wins in their last four games. The only coughup they had was a 108-95 loss to the Clippers, but the offense in general has been looking sharper. That'll be important for an upcoming stretch that includes the Wizards, Spurs, and Blazers.
Small forward Gordon Hayward (21.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg) looks to be back on track after nursing a quadricep injury this week.
He posted 20 points on Sacramento last Wednesday and isn't listed on the injury report for tonight's game. He put up 30 points in their most recent meeting with Washington.
Utah is favored by three points in this contest with the total O/U set at 206.5 points. Washington is just 3-13-1 against the spread in their last 17 games after playing on just one day of rest.
