Jazz vs. Hawks injury report, NBA odds: Spread rising, total dropping with Trae Young out; Donovan Mitchell set at 23.5 points Thursday
The Hawks will be without All-Star guard Trae Young for Thursday's game vs. Utah.
loading...
loading...
The Utah Jazz opened as 7-point favorites on the William Hill Sportsbook NBA odds for Thursday's game in Atlanta, but that spread is up to 8.5 points as of this writing with the news that Hawks All-Star guard Trae Young is questionable -- update: now out -- with a right calf contusion. The Over/Under total has dropped from 227 to 225 on the possibility that one of the NBA's most electric players could sit out the second of a back-to-back.
Atlanta lost its second home game in a row Wednesday, 122-116 to Dallas – which entered on a six-game losing streak. Young seemed fine as he had 21 points and nine assists in 36 minutes. In fact, the Hawks were plus-4 when Young was on the court, but every other starter had a negative rating.
Young has missed just one game this season, a 129-115 loss in Milwaukee on Jan. 24 (back spasms), but it could be the Hawks want to give him a breather as Thursday will be the team's third game in four nights. Young is averaging 26.6 points, 9.0 assists and 4.2 rebounds. He's the only player in the Eastern Conference ranked in the Top 10 of the NBA in points and assists per game. If Young can't go, veteran Rajon Rondo likely would start and seldom-used Brandon Goodwin picking up backup minutes.
The Hawks also are listing power forward Onyeka Okongwu, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 draft, as questionable with left Achilles soreness that has kept the former USC star out the past two. He has been a disappointment thus far largely because of injuries. Third-leading scorer De'Andre Hunter (17.2 ppg), Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kris Dunn all remain out with longer-term injuries.
Utah had its 11-game straight up and against the spread winning streak snapped in Denver on Sunday, 128-117, but the Jazz rebounded Tuesday with an easy 117-105 home win over Detroit. Donovan Mitchell had 32 points, his first time topping 30 since Jan. 21 (did miss a couple of games in the concussion protocol). Utah isn't listing anyone of note on the injury report for Thursday. Mitchell is listed at Over/Under 23.5 points for this game at William Hill with the Over a slight favorite.
It should be a terrific matchup in the paint between Hawks center Clint Capela and Jazz counterpart Rudy Gobert. Capela is second in the league in rebounding at 14.3 per game and has at least 10 rebounds in 17 straight games, the longest active streak in the NBA. He's third in blocks at 2.4 per game. Gobert is third in rebounding (13.4 rpg) and second in blocks (2.7 bpg). Both are in the running for Defensive Player of the Year – which Gobert has won twice in his career.
Utah looks for the season sweep as it beat the visiting Hawks 116-92 on Jan. 15 thanks in large part to a 21-0 second-half run. Mitchell had 26 points, while Young had one of the worst games of his career with just four points on 1-for-11 shooting. The Jazz are just 4-9 against the spread in their past 13 in Atlanta, however.
Which Super Bowl prop bets are a must-bet? And which prop pays a colossal 7-1? Join SportsLine now to see the top Super Bowl 55 prop bets, all from the model that's up almost $7,900 on top-rated NFL picks.