Bulls vs Jazz Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

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06 March 2024

Bulls vs Jazz Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

With Chicago continuing to stay in the playoff race while Utah remains hampered by injuries, Kenny Ducey sees value in the visiting team for tonight's showdown. Read more in our Bulls vs. Jazz betting picks.

The Utah Jazz have fallen into a state of despair, losers of eight of their last 10 games as they head into tonight's matchup against the Chicago Bulls.

After restoring some confidence in the NBA odds with a hard-fought win over Washington, can Utah find a second wind against a waning Chicago team?

Let's get right into it with our in-depth preview and NBA picks for Bulls vs. Jazz on Wednesday, March 6.

Bulls vs Jazz odds

Bulls vs Jazz predictions

For a team that’s been built around offensive efficiency, you’d have to be pleased that the Utah Jazz have ranked ninth in points scored per 100 possessions since the beginning of February, raising their offensive rating by nearly a full point during this time.

On top of that, you’d assume this team — which has been worlds better at home — would enjoy a solid month considering they’ve spent most of it playing in Utah, where they’re a whopping 14.5 points better per 100 possessions.

Well, that simply hasn’t been the case. Though the offense has been relatively stable — averaging better than 119 points per 100 plays in the last two games — the Jazz have lost all ability to defend. Utah is second-worst in the NBA in that regard since February 1, with both its 3-point defense and rim protection taking a steep dive.

With Walker Kessler missing, along with Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, and now Taylor Hendricks, the Jazz frontcourt is in a perilous spot on Wednesday. The Chicago Bulls have done a great job of getting to the rim all season long, and that’s continued to be the case over the last month and change.

Chicago's primary concern has been defense, but with Alex Caruso returning to health and the team showing improvement in recent outings, this is setting up to be another bad spot for Utah.

The Jazz have too many injuries to defend a team which will force the issue inside, so I'm taking Chicago to cover on the road tonight.

My best bet: Bulls -3.5 (-110 at BetMGM)

Bulls vs Jazz same-game parlay

Bulls -4

Nikola Vucevic Over 19.5 points

Collin Sexton 3+ threes

Nikola Vucevic ranks in the 95th percentile in shots taken from the midrange per 75 possessions and in the 62nd percentile in shooting at the rim. Without Kessler defending down low, this should be a prime spot to back Vucevic to eclipse his points total of 19.5 — a number he’s hit four times in his last six games.

Meanwhile, Chicago has struggled mightily to defend outside the arc since February 1. With George sidelined, Collin Sexton should be loaded up for plenty of minutes. He’s hit three triples in all but one of his last four games and the volume should be high enough to hit this prop.

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Bulls vs Jazz spread and Over/Under analysis

The Jazz initially opened as 3.5-point favorites in this contest on Tuesday evening. However, with news that so many key pieces would be missing, the line quickly climbed to favor Chicago in just a couple of hours. After that, we saw steady movement towards Chicago all night long, reaching -5 at one point, before the line settled on Wednesday morning around -3.5 to -4.

Without the scoring threat of Markkanen, the total plummeted from its opening number of 230.5 down to 223.5 on Wednesday night before some action came in on the Over, pushing it back up to 224.

Still, while 46% of the bets have come in on the Over at DraftKings, just 43% of the cash is headed that way. A solid 60% of the tickets are on the Bulls to cover the spread, but a commanding 79% of the handle has come in on Chicago.