Raptors vs. Jazz picks and odds: Back Utah at home

The Toronto Raptors’ seven-game road trip continues on Wednesday with a visit to the Utah Jazz.

The pregame narrative: Despite a .500 record overall, the Jazz are one of the better home teams in the NBA. That’s largely due to the team’s high-powered offence, and Lauri Markkanen should help drive Utah’s attack with his work from behind the line in this game.

Here are our Raptors vs. Jazz picks for February 1.

Odds as of 10:02 a.m. on 02/01/2023.

Raptors vs. Jazz picks

Best Bet:Jazz -3 (-110)

The Raptors have done surprisingly well on their Western Conference road trip so far with a 2-2 record, but their luck could run out in Utah.

Although the Jazz (26-26) have a middling record, they are 17-9 in Utah — with a rock-solid 15-11 ATS record. This team’s average point differential on home court (plus-5.2) ranks ninth in the NBA, which means they can cover this spread with an average effort.

That should be in the cards against a Raptors squad with a rough 8-17 road record that’s been suffering through a gruelling road trip of four games in the past seven days.

Meanwhile, the Jazz haven’t played since Saturday’s home game. They should be well rested and prepared for this one. Utah is also fully healthy, while the Raptors just lost OG Anunoby to a wrist injury.

From a stylistic standpoint, the Jazz also have an advantage as their offence is built around firing from behind the line while the Raptors struggle to defend those shots.

Utah makes the fourth-most threes in the NBA on a per-game basis (14.5) and the Raptors allow their opponents to convert 3-point attempts at the second-highest rate (37.4%).

Key stat: The Raptors have a 44.0% ATS winning percentage as a road team this season.

Quick picks

Jazz over 116.5 points (-118): This is a line the NBA’s fourth-ranked scoring offence gets over with regularity. Utah has scored 117 or more points in 55.8% of its games this year, averaging 117.5 points per game.

The Jazz have scored at an even higher clip at home (119.5 points/game) and the Raptors are missing their top defender in Anunoby. Utah has beaten this total in eight of its last 12 games and should be up for the challenge again.

Markkanen over 3.5 threes (+128): There aren’t many players worth considering on this line, but Markkanen has proven he can clear it consistently. Utah’s breakout star has hit this over in 13 of his last 25 games and four of his last five.

He’ll also benefit from shooting on his home court — where he’s a sizzling 47.5% from beyond the arc on the season — and a matchup with a Raptors squad that has a tough time defending against threes.