Free Pick | NBA | Tuesday | Jan. 20

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#508 Utah Jazz +14.5 over Minnesota Timberwolves 8:10 PM CT

The Jazz are just 14-29 this season but Utah has nine home wins as this remains a more challenging place to play than most venues for losing teams. Utah has the worst scoring defense in the NBA by a wide margin, but the Jazz have scored at least 110 points in five straight games and eight of the past nine games. This is the first game back at home after five road games and while Utah has only four wins since late December, those wins came against the Pistons, Spurs, Mavericks, and Cavaliers as this group can surprise quality teams. Naz Reid may miss tonight’s game while Anthony Edwards has missed recent time as well, returning Saturday for Minnesota’s loss in San Antonio. Minnesota is just 10-12 ATS on the road this season, going 6-9 ATS as a road favorite and 1-3 ATS as a double-digit road favorite. The Wolves won by seven at Utah in November and lost S/U and ATS in Salt Lake City in February of last season. Minnesota has a big home stand on deck starting with the Bulls visiting Thursday and this is a fourth straight road game after three high-profile games. Minnesota has lost three in a row just once this season but winning and winning by a double-digit margin are very different things and this looks like a less than ideal situation for the Wolves to be in top form following Edwards playing 40 minutes and scoring a season-high 55 points but still losing in the team’s last game. Utah has played the league’s #1 rated strength of schedule this season and has six top 10 wins, just as many as Minnesota has through the league’s #25 ranked schedule.