Milwaukee Bucks vs Utah Jazz Odds, Player Props & Prediction (Feb. 4)
Hoping to keep within a stone’s throw of Boston at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, the Milwaukee Bucks (33-16, 12-11 away, ATS) visit the Utah Jazz (24-26, 15-7 home, ATS) at the Delta Center at 6:10 pm MT/8:10 pm ET tonight.
Sunday night’s game will be the fourth in Milwaukee’s current five-game road trip but playing the tailend of a tough back-to-back, the Jazz are slight home favorites in today’s NBA odds.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Utah Jazz Odds
Utah is a 2.5-point ATS favorite and -140 on the moneyline. The Bucks come back at +115 to win straight up and even their record on their current road trip. The total is sitting at a massive 246.5, the highest of the nine games on today’s NBA schedule.
Odds as of Feb. 4 at BetMGM. Claim a BetMGM promo code to wager on 76ers vs Jazz on Thursday night.
Milwaukee currently sits four games back of the Celtics for first in the East in the NBA playoff bracket. The Jazz are clinging to the #10 seed in the West, the final spot in the Play-In Tournament. If the season ended today, they would face the #9 Los Angeles Lakers with the winner moving onto face the loser of #7 New Orleans vs #8 Dallas.
Bucks Overcome 25-Point Deficit to Beat Mavericks
After dropping the first two games of their road trip (113-107 at Denver, 119-116 at Portland) it looked as though the Bucks would fall to 0-3 last night at Dallas. The Mavericks jumped out to a 45-20 lead early in the second quarter, but the Bucks dominated the rest of the way. The lead had been trimmed to just five by halftime and Milwaukee dominated the second half en route to a 129-117 win over Luka Doncic and company.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was outstanding, scoring 48 points on 20-of-28 shooting while adding ten assists and six rebounds. Not to be outdone, Damian Lillard dropped 30 points and eight assists while only missing a single shot from the field (10-11) and going a perfect 5-of-5 from three.
The dynamic offensive performance was nothing new for Milwaukee, which currently sits third in the league in Offensive Rating (120.1) and second in points per game (124.0).
Giannis (31.3 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 6.2 APG) currently sits fourth in the NBA MVP odds at +675, though none of the Bucks are relevant in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds at this stage (despite Giannis and Brook Lopez both starting the year among the top-ten favorites).
Jazz Lose Three Straight and Six of Eight
A streak of nine wins in ten games in early January is a distant memory for the Jazz now, who have lost three in a row and six of their past eight games. Utah had a golden opportunity to pull itself out of the skid on Thursday, facing the 76ers at home without Joel Embiid and at the end of a five-game road trip (on which they were 0-4 up to that point).
But Utah’s defense had no answer for Tyrese Maxey, who dropped 51 points during a narrow 127-124 Philadelphia victory. Led by Lauri Markkanen (28 points on 10-of-15 shooting) and Collin Sexton (22 points on 8-of-14 shooting), the Jazz offense was rock-solid. It was the other end of the court that sealed their fate. Utah generated just four turnovers in 48 minutes.
Utah how has a -2.6 Net Rating (24th in the NBA) and sits a concerning 25th in D-Rating (118.1). Their -2.4 point differential is 1.4 worse than any other team among the Western Conference’s top-ten seeds.
MIL vs UTA Player Props
Curiously, Giannis isn’t listed in the NBA player props for this game, though he isn’t on the Bucks injury report and there is no confirmation that he will be missing from Sunday’s NBA lineups.
Bucks vs Jazz Prediction
Milwaukee put in a huge effort last night to snap it’s two-game skid. Giannis, Lillard, and Khris Middleton all played at least 38 minutes. I am hesitant to back them for a full four quarters at altitude against a Utah team that’s been rock-solid at home this season.
I do, however, like the Bucks first-half moneyline at plus money (+110). “We need a better start” is sure to be the refrain from coach Doc Rivers pregame, and there should be an early air of desperation from his players, who know they can ill-afford to fall behind they way they did in Dallas last night.
MIL vs UTA pick: Bucks first-half moneyline (+110)
Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 NBA betting record:
- 10-10-2 ATS (-0.59 units)
- 12-16 ML (-1.97 units)
All wagers one unit unless expressly stated otherwise.
