NBA Thursday: Greg Frank picks Trail Blazers vs Jazz and it's hard to bet against Utah in Salt Lake

1-2 Christmas Day, 53-54-1 overall.

Trail Blazers (+5.5) @ Jazz (219)

Pick: Jazz -5.5

Just when it looked like Portland was picking up some momentum, it drops a game to the lowly Pelicans at home on Monday night. The Trail Blazers have been a streaky team all season and unfortunately for them the streaks have been more of the losing variety. Had they buried New Orleans and extended a four-game winning streak, this game would probably not make our plays tonight. However, the narrative of Portland’s season has been to win a few, and then lose a few more and that’s resulted in the Trail Blazers sitting at 14-17 and clinging to the last playoff position in the West. Utah on the other hand is one of the best home teams in the NBA, posting an 11-3 record in Salt Lake City coming into Thursday’s game. However, the oddsmakers have had a good handle on Jazz home games as Utah is just 6-8 ATS in those 14. Despite that, the Trail Blazers simply are trustworthy enough to take the points here. Should Jordan Clarkson make his Jazz debut tonight after getting traded on Monday, then Utah will have some added scoring off the bench. I’m fairly confident the Jazz win so I’ll lay the points in this one.

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