Tip-off: Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Utah -2.5, Total: 182.5

A couple of hot teams, the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz, meet to keep their recent winning streaks alive on Wednesday night.

The Wizards have turned things around recently, winning each of their past four games both SU and ATS by an average of 17.5 PPG. They defeated some tough teams in that time, taking down both Memphis and Portland while at home behind 105.0 PPG in the four contests. Washington’s latest victim was the Trail Blazers when they came into town on Monday and the Wizards took them down by a score of 105-97 as 1-point favorites. The team nearly gave up a large 25-point lead in the third quarter when they were outscored 34-21 but held on behind 50% of their field goals dropping and just six turnovers in the victory. The Jazz may not finish with one of the best records in the league, but they are certainly showing improved play as they ride a six-game winning streak heading into this contest. In that time they have allowed opponents to put up just 82.5 PPG with the highest total being 91 points when they defeated Houston. The biggest win came most recently when they destroyed the Hornets 94-66 as 4.5-point favorites at home on Monday. Utah made 15-of-24 three-pointers (62.5% 3PM) in the blowout and held Charlotte to an abysmal 23-of-78 shooting (30% FG) as a team. Despite Washington’s strong season thus far, they have not played at all well on the road with a 14-18 SU record (11-20-1 ATS) in away games as they face a Jazz club that is 17-16 both SU and ATS at home. It is the Wizards who have won each of the past two meetings between these clubs and were the victor at the first contest this year when they took a 93-84 win at home as 11.5-point favorites in mid-December. Washington shot 48.8% from the floor in the easy dismantling of Utah as they did little from either behind the arc (4-for-13) or from the charity stripe (7-for-12). That was the extent of their success in recent years, though, as the Jazz managed to win the previous four games SU (3-1 ATS) in the matchup. Some trends to watch before dropping a unit on this game include that the Wizards are 75-51 ATS (60%) as an underdog over the past three seasons while Utah has gone 31-12 ATS (72%) when revenging a loss this season. There are no major injuries for either team in this one, with PF Kris Humphries (Groin) and SG Garrett Temple (Hamstring) listed as questionable for Washington while SF Elijah Millsap (Concussion) is questionable for the Jazz.

The Wizards haven’t exactly been world-beaters on the offensive end as they put up 98.8 PPG (12th-worst in league) behind 46.7% shooting (3rd in league). Defensively they do rank rather high, though, allowing 97.3 PPG (8th in league) with opponents putting up 43.6% shooting (7th in league). PG John Wall (17.3 PPG, 10.0 APG, 4.5 RPG, 1.8 SPG) has two straight double-doubles coming into this one in which he has averaged 26.0 PPG, 11.5 APG, 5.5 APG and 1.5 SPG. He had a big-time all-around performance (16 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 blocks) in the last meeting with this Jazz group. SG Bradley Beal (14.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG) is coming off his best game since returning from injury as he went for 23 points and seven assists in the win over Portland. He also did well in his matchup with Utah this year, netting 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. C Marcin Gortat (12.1 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.3 BPG) has been a huge factor in the team’s recent play and has gone for 16.2 PPG (72% FG) over the past five games. He didn’t have quite as much success when he first saw the Jazz in December with just five points and seven rebounds.

Utah’s offense does not stack up to the rest of the league as it is scoring a mere 95.1 PPG (5th-worst in league) on 45% shooting. Defensively, the Jazz are one of the best in the league, giving up 95.1 PPG (best in league) behind 44.5% shooting. SF Gordon Hayward (19.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.4 SPG) has scored 20+ points in four of his past seven games, averaging 20.3 PPG in that time. He made a mere 4-of-14 shots for 16 points and added seven rebounds when his team lost to the Wizards earlier in the season. PF Derrick Favors (16.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.7 BPG) has made 56% of his shots over the past five games and has been a great rim protector in the past three contests with 3.0 BPG. He wasn’t on the court for the last meeting with Washington and struggled (8.0 PPG, 9.5 RPG) in two games against them last year. C Rudy Gobert (7.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.3 BPG) has excelled without Kanter around anymore and has some huge numbers (10.8 PPG, 17.9 RPG, 2.1 BPG) over eight March games. He was on the court for 31 minutes in the loss to the Wizards but managed only seven points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.