The Utah Jazz (18-39) and Houston Rockets (34-21) will face off in the NBA tonight. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. ET from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The game will broadcast live on Peacock.
The Rockets are 14.5-point favorites over the Jazz on the spread (Rockets -14.5), with the over/under set at 226.5 total points. Houston is a -900 favorite to win outright on the moneyline, while the Jazz is +600 to pull off the upset.
Let's get into my Jazz vs. Rockets predictions and NBA picks for Monday, February 23.
Jazz vs Rockets Prediction
- Jazz vs Rockets pick: Lauri Markkanen Over 4.5 Rebounds (-110)
My Rockets vs. Jazz best bet is on Lauri Markkanen to grab over 4.5 rebounds tonight. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live NBA odds page.
Jazz vs Rockets Odds
| Jazz Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+14.5 -115 | 226.5 -110o / -110u | +600 |
| Rockets Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-14.5 -105 | 226.5 -110o / -110u | -900 |
Jazz vs Rockets NBA Preview
I'm going to take Lauri Markkanen over 4.5 rebounds in Utah's matchup against the Rockets tonight.
Markkanen should play enough minutes for the Jazz in this spot coming back from an illness.
On the season, he's averaging seven rebounds per game.
However, he's been playing less and less as of late with the Jazz in tank mode.
So, if he plays less minutes than usual here, that's obviously the biggest concern — and that notion is reflected in his prop lines.
However, even if we kind of bracketed him between 15 and 30 minutes, he has hit his mark in seven out of nine games within these parameters earlier in the season, averaging six rebounds per game, including eight rebounds in a game against this same Rockets team.
So, I just think that if Markkanen is out there, he will grab rebounds. It's just what he's going to do out on the floor by nature.
Jazz vs Rockets Predictions, Betting Analysis
I think Markkanen's rebounds prop line at 4.5 is just too low in this spot.
The oddsmakers appear to be over-indexing on the assumption that Markkanen won't play many minutes.
However, I believe the Rockets are a good enough team that the Jazz can actually play it straight up with every player available, and still lose as they intend to do.
That way, they could try to at least push some of the tanking conversations off of them for now.
I consider this 4.5 line to be a little bit light, even if Markkanen does have some sort of top-minute ceiling.
Pick: Lauri Markkanen Over 4.5 Rebounds (-110, DraftKings)
Spread
I'm not betting either side of the spread in tonight's game.
Moneyline
No play on the moneyline.
Over/Under
My Jazz vs Rockets betting prediction is Lauri Markkanen over 4.5 rebounds at -110.
Rockets vs Jazz Betting Trends
