Jazz vs. Suns Prediction: Short Handed Suns Make Home Debut

The Phoenix Suns will take on the Utah Jazz in the desert on Saturday as both Devin Booker and Bradley Beal look set to miss the matchup through injury.

The Jazz started 2022 as one of the hottest teams in the league but slowly regressed to a 12th-place finish. They’re on the outside looking in at the playoffs, according to the oddsmakers, whereas the Suns are one of the top contenders in the West. 

Here, we will react to the betting odds and share our thoughts on the Jazz-Suns matchup on Saturday night.

Jazz vs. Suns Betting Odds for Saturday, Oct. 28 

This is shaping up to be the second time in three games that both Booker and Beal will be dressed in street clothes. Phoenix gave the Los Angeles Lakers a tough fight on Thursday but still lost 100-95 as Kevin Durant scored 39 points without his co-stars. 

*Odds from BetMGM Sportsbook. Use our BetMGM promo code for a $1,500 welcome bonus.*

The Jazz are a young team with interesting pieces, but they lack top-end talent. They’re led by Lauri Markkanen, who made the All-Star team for the first time in his career last year and was voted as the NBA’s Most Improved Player.

The Finnish forward led Utah with 25.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a year ago. He also got off to a hot start in 2023 with a double-double in the season-opener against the Sacramento Kings.

Alongside Markkanen in the frontcourt is John Collins, a recent arrival who came over in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks. The 26-year-old Wake Forest product averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds last year, both of which were the lowest of his career since his rookie campaign in 2017-18.

Collins only made 29.2% of his triples last year but will be encouraged to put up shots for a Jazz squad that ranked fifth in attempts per game a year ago (37.8).

Center Walker Kessler plays with remarkable efficiency, while Jordan Clarkson is a microwave in the backcourt. The Jazz should be competitive to start the year because of their energy and talent, but it remains to be seen how they’ll hold up later in the season.

On the other side, the Suns have shown flashes of brilliance but also given out warning signs. For the starters, Beal and Booker already missing two and three games is a harrowing sign, especially with Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic also being highly injury-prone in recent years.

The Suns have no distributor in their lineup, a problem that was exasperated in the Lakers' loss. There was very little ball movement, and the team relied heavily on the brilliance of Durant in isolation and on second-chance scoring opportunities generated from offensive rebounds and hustle plays.

On the plus side, the Suns have held their first two opponents to an average of 102 points and 38.9% shooting from the field. They have no real defensive stoppers, but Frank Vogel has already brought the best out of them on this side of the court.

Jazz vs. Suns Prediction and Betting Pick

The Suns went 28-13 at home in 2022-23, even while being without Durant for all but eight games. The Jazz went 14-27 on the road and were noticeably worse toward the end of the year.

Utah has talented scorers and matches up decently well with Phoenix. Kessler, in particular, is a player whose impact could be greater than expected since he’ll have to fend off wings like Josh Okogie and Jordan Goodwin, who are constantly attacking the offensive glass.

Durant was masterful as a scorer on Thursday but committed eight turnovers. It’s also become apparent that at this stage of his career, physical defense and long defenders bother him.

We’ll take the Suns to win this game thanks to their improved defense, but Durant will have to be ready to be a high-volume shooter and scorer. Suns players not named Durant or Booker are shooting just 40% from the field, and Utah can score points in a hurry if any one of their stars gets hot.