Portland Trail Blazers vs Utah Jazz Prediction: Slipping Trail Blazers take on plucky Jazz

The NBA trade deadline is closing in and this has been a fascinating period where trade rumors are piling up. We have to look at the news headline closely because you never know which rumor comes true(Here is a shoutout to Shams Chrania and Adrian Wojnarowski). Here are a couple of teams that may get active during the trade deadline as the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz clash here.

The Trail Blazers come into this game after a 37 points performance by Damian Lillard which brought a 147:127 win against the San Antonio Spurs. Portland has lost eight of their last eleven games and this has derailed their campaign to no end. The Trail Blazers have lost 25 and won 22 games and at one point, they were at 17 wins and 13 losses. Portland has lost its way because of a main reason. When their offense is on, their defense is off and when the defense is on, the offense is off. Damian Lillard has been the scoring leader but overall, Portland needs to put more help around him. The trade deadline will help in that case

The Jazz enters the contest after defeating the Hornets 120:102 as Lauri Markkanen put up 25 points. They have won five out of seven games but a five-game losing streak where the team lost in the last few minutes and the margin was one-five points. However, they remain in the Play-in contention. Their prospects look alluring mostly because Lauri Markkanen is having a breakout season, constantly dropping over 25 points. Jordan Clarkson gives fizz to the offense as well whereas Conley has been dropping dimes at a great pace too. Walker Kessler has emerged as an interesting double-double prospect. Overall, the Jazz needs a bit of size and they make a look at the trade scenario. There are murmurs that Jazz can blow up what they are doing, but in my opinion, they have a solid base to build upon.

The Jazz has played some quality basketball but it doesn’t mean that they have attained the status of a team that goes on big winning streaks. Portland has had a tough time and they need a big winning streak to get their campaign on track. Jazz comes into this game with much more momentum but I see Portland capitalizing upon their home-court advantage. I predict a scoreline of 123:117 in favor of the Trail Blazers.