Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz - 10/20/21 NBA Picks and Prediction

Utah Jazz (0-0) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0)

Game Info: Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 9:00 pm (Vivint Smart Home Arena)

Betting Odds: Utah Jazz -12 -- Over/Under: 221 Click Here for the Latest Odds

Where to Watch: AT&T Sportsnet - Roc, Bally Sports OK Stream live sports and exclusive originals on ESPN+. Sign up now!

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz meet Wednesday in NBA action at the Vivint Arena. The Oklahoma City Thunder won just 22 games last season and enter the second year under coach Mark Daigneault. The Utah Jazz are coming off a 52-win season, their most since 2009-10.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have nowhere to go but up, and a lot of their progress this season will come down to the growth of their young players. OKC will be counting on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to take all-star form, while Luguentz Dort, Aleksej Pokusevski and Darius Bazley strive to get better, three players who are 22 years old or younger. Isaiah Roby looked good in his first real season of playing time, and rookie Josh Giddey will be given every chance to succeed. Derrick Favors and Mike Muscala are the only players on this Thunder roster who are over the age of 26 years old, which tells you where things are in Oklahoma at the moment. The Thunder are still in rebuilding mode and waiting for the right moment to make a big splash with some of their assets. Still, the Thunder have some intriguing young players who will be worth watching this season.

The Utah Jazz keep last year's core that made last season possible, outside of losing Georges Niang and Derrick Favors. In fact, the Jazz strengthened its roster overall with the additions of Hassan Whiteside, Rudy Gay, Erich Paschall and the drafting of Jared Butler. Mike Conley is back for another season, Donovan Mitchell continues to take his game to another level, and Rudy Gobert is still one of the top defenders in the NBA. Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles are both one of the better bench players in the league as well. A healthy and consistent Bojan Bogdanovic puts this Jazz team over the top and in the thick of the Western contenders. The Jazz will be eager to prove last season was no fluke.

The Thunder are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games and 8-21 ATS in their last 29 games overall. The Jazz are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The under is 15-6 in Thunder last 21 road games. The over is 9-2 in Jazz last 11 overall. The Thunder are 6-0 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Utah.

This is a lot of points to lay in a season opener, and we'll have our chances to cash on OKC this season, but the Thunder were absolutely horrible in the underdog role last year. Also, you can make a strong argument the Jazz are even better than they were last season, a year when they won and covered at an impressive rate. I hope the Jazz prices don't get out of control, but I'll test the waters with them in this season opener.