Will Utah remain unbeaten in Texas?

The Houston Rockets await the Utah Jazz, an NBA heavyweight. The guests delivered the best record after the regular season last season and are now already off to a stable start again: In the first game of the season, they clearly defeated Oklahoma with 107:86, followed by the Kings from Sacramento and the Nuggets from Denver.

The home side had the worst record of any team in the league at the end of the last regular season and will be in a season of change, so expectations are not too high in Texas. They have already had a sobering start to the season with three defeats and only one win against an equally unplayable Oklahoma team.

For the game at the Toyota Center between the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz, the tip aims for less than 108 points for the home side.

Houston Rockets – Statistics & current form

The Houston Rockets lost three of their four games in the preseason and the opener was lost as described against the Timberwolves from Minnesota. They were able to beat OKC afterwards, but then they lost again against Boston and Dallas.

To conclude that the season will not be easy for the basketball players from the Lone Star State, you don’t have to use your crystal ball too much. The squad lost its top players and respective former MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook last year, so the signs in H-Town are for a rebuild.

Rebuild around the second pick

In the past draft lottery, the Rockets came in second and picked up shooting guard Jaylen Green with the second pick. The 19-year-old was also in the starting five in the season opener against the Timberwolves and should provide a lot of joy in Houston in the medium term.

The fact that the second pick of a draft does not have to be worse than the first pick has been observed more often in the past. So far, 16 second picks have won the title of best rookie and among these winners you can discover illustrious names like Kevin Durant (2008) or Ja Morant (2020)!

Green, as expected, still has room for improvement

Head coach Stephen Silas will have noticed in the opener that Green is just at the beginning of a potentially successful career. He scored just nine points against Minnie and made just four of 14 attempts from the field.

The youngster flashed his skills once against Boston with 30 points, but in three of his four games for the 1994 and 1995 champions he scored a maximum of ten points.

Predicted line-up of Houston Rockets:
Tate – Theis – Wood – Porter Jr. – Green

Utah Jazz – Statistics & current form

Utah are making a run at the title this season. Last season, coach Quin Snyder’s men delivered the best regular season in the league as mentioned, but in the postseason, the Northwest Division franchise only made it as far as the Western Conference Semifinals with a surprising 4-2 series loss to the Clippers.

After two first-round losses in the previous two seasons, the loss to LA was another disappointment for Utah, especially considering they were already 2-0 up against the Clippers in the series. Now, however, the start to the new season has been successful and, given the continued strength of the squad, this is not surprising.

Gobert once again performs very strongly

All the regulars from last year are back on board, which is why the Salt Lake City squad is so well-rehearsed. Rudy Gobert, among others, is in good form again on the defensive end. A whopping 21 rebounds, as in the opener against Minnesota, or 20 boards, as against Sacramento, show that the “Stifle Tower” will once again compete for the title of best defensive player in the NBA this season.

An award that the Frenchman has already won no less than three times. Should he snatch the award again, Gobert would catch up with the legends Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace, who are the only players in the NBA to have won the award four times so far!

Whiteside shores up defense

In addition, Hassan Whiteside, another efficient “big man”, was brought in to act as a backup for the Frenchman and has made a fine introduction in the first league games of the season. Although he only averaged around 17 minutes on the court in the three games, the ex-player from Portland achieved a great average of 7.7 rebounds per game.

Against this background and the upcoming easy task for the visitors, the odds on an away win with at least a nine-point lead in the Rockets’ game against the Jazz are also associated with value.

Last season, the duels were already clear-cut affairs in favour of Snyder’s troops: the three comparisons ended with an average difference of around 15 points. In view of the visitors’ performances so far this season, betting on Utah to score more than 115 points is also a good idea.

Predicted Utah Jazz line-up:
O’Neale – Bogdanovic – Gobert – Conley – Mitchell

Houston Rockets – Utah Jazz Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

Last season, the hoopsters from the Space City were defeated in all three matchups. It was the first season-long sweep for the Rockets in 22 years at this pairing. The four-time Western Conference winners also lost their only home game 89-112 to the Beehive State.

For the upcoming game between the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz, the odds are once again favouring the visitors.

Houston Rockets – Utah Jazz Tip

With Houston against Utah, the worst against the best team of the last regular season. The balance of power has not changed much at the moment. While the Rockets are rebuilding their squad and are at the very beginning of this endeavour, the visitors arrive with a hardly changed personnel.

The forecast for the clash between the Rockets and Utah therefore includes a maximum of 107 points for the home side. With players like Gobert and Whiteside, the Jazz have a strong defensive force and the Texans have a comparatively weak offence.

With the exception of the win against the men from OKC, who only last night celebrated their first triumph after four winless games, the home side always scored no more than 106 points in their three other games.

The defensive strength of their upcoming opponents can again be gauged by the fact that the Snyder squad has allowed an average of just 99 points to its opponents in their three opening games. Last season also supports the prediction: the Rockets managed an average of 101.3 points in the three duels with the league leaders from the West.