Raptors vs. Jazz prop picks: Bet on a big game from Trent Jr.

The fifth game of the Toronto Raptors’ seven-game road trip will take place at Vivint Arena, where they’ll battle the Utah Jazz.

The pregame narrative: Gary Trent Jr. has been scoring at a fine clip recently and he’s got himself a solid matchup. Precious Achiuwa will see more opportunities on the glass with OG Anunoby out and Pascal Siakam is slumping — by his lofty standards.

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

Odds as of 11:17 a.m. on 02/01/2023.

Raptors vs. Jazz prop picks

Best Bet:Gary Trent Jr. over 19.5 points (-114)

Trent has had an up-and-down season, but he’s settled in lately, averaging 21.5 points per game since December 27.

Those are solid numbers, and he should be able to add to them against a vulnerable Jazz defence.

Utah possesses the 10th-worst scoring defence in the NBA and it’s particularly bad against shooting guards, giving up the sixth-most points to the position, per FantasyPros.

Trent is precisely the type of player the Jazz don’t have a good solution for. Their starting shooting guard, Jordan Clarkson, is an indifferent defender who possesses the eighth-worst defensive rating in the NBA.

Utah’s other starting guard, Mike Conley, is 35, and the two guards who log the most minutes off the bench — Collin Sexton and Malik Beasley — are not known as good defenders.

The Jazz are also below-average when it comes to limiting threes, ranking 18th in opponents’ 3-point percentage (36.0%). That’s excellent news for Trent, who takes nearly half of his shots (49.5%) from beyond the arc.

Expect Trent to put up a strong total behind some impressive perimeter shooting.

Key stat: Trent has hit this over in 11 of his last 19 points, with five of his eight misses coming by two points or fewer.

Quick picks

Achiuwa over 9.5 rebounds (-108): This line may seem wildly ambitious compared to Achiuwa’s season-long averages, but he’s found himself in a starting role with Anunoby out.

The bruising big man has shown an ability to dominate on the glass when given enough playing time to do so, grabbing at least 11 rebounds in each of his starts this season.

Achiuwa has produced 10.5 rebounds per 36 minutes and should have a workload approaching that number in this one against a Jazz team with plenty of bigs for him to cover.

Siakam under 24.5 points (-112): Siakam may be averaging 25 points per game on the season, but this line isn’t reflective of his recent production. The Raptors star has averaged 21.4 points in his last 10 games and gone under this line eight times.

With Achiuwa sliding into the starting lineup, Siakam moves to the power forward spot, which is bad news for him as the Jazz allow the fewest points in the NBA to power forwards.