Utah Jazz vs Toronto Raptors Prediction: Sketchy Raptors take on strong Jazz

The NBA trade deadline is just a few days away and the trade rumors are now swirling at an amazing rate. With the way things are going, there are a bunch of squads that can be involved in the exchange of players, picks, and cash. This is a fascinating period and in line with that, let us jump into the Utah Jazz are the Toronto Raptors.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz enters the game after defeating the Mavericks 108:100 as Lauri Markkanen scooped up 29 points in another fantastic effort. They have won five of their last seven games which have helped to improve the record after the team had lost 80% of their games in a 10-game window. The Jazz now has 26 wins and 26 losses, which makes a tricky scenario for the management which may look to pull some moves but has a promising core to work with. One thing looks sure, they won’t do away with Lauri Markkanen. There are defensive issues at times due to the lack of size and not having a suitable Wing player so this will be an interesting period.

Toronto Raptors

The Raptors come into the affair after losing 106:114 against the Suns despite a 24 points performance by Fred VanVleet. They have lost five of their last eight games and this has been the summary of the season. As a result, they have slipped to 29 losses and have 23 wins. They have not been as effective a defensive unit as they were last season. Scoring-wise, they have their issues too despite fielding a rather sizeable unit with Pascal Siakam and Fred Van Vleet combining for a 45+ points production regularly these days. OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, and Gary Trent Jr fill out the rest of the unit well, but OG, Trent, and Fred can be on the trading block, at least one of them may be traded.

Expert Betting Tips

The Raptors have been doing a decent job but they have not been incisive for the most parts. The Jazz has improved their play compared to earlier but they haven’t had a big winning streak. Offensively, they have the tools, defensively, they have their issues but against the Raptors, they can find their juice. I predict a scoreline of 125:120 in favor of the Jazz.