Will the Nets welcome back star power? What about Utah amid its injuries? Time for the betting preview and how to watch.
The Brooklyn Nets rolled with a skeleton crew against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.
Now 24 hours later, will Brooklyn be at full strength in the mountain region? This time against the Utah Jazz?
Brooklyn had a laundry list of inactive players for the Thursday night contest -- including Cam Thomas and Egor Demin sitting out with injuries. Michael Porter Jr. ended up carrying the scoring load once again, dropping 38 points on his former team despite the loss.
But now Porter is out with what's called personal reasons per Erik Slater of ClutchPoints.
How will this impact the Nets and are they, immediately, a massive underdog here?
This game has "tankathon" written all over it.
The Nets are depleted. Yet same with Utah -- with this list of inactives:
If you're a fan of watching reserves over superstar talent, then Nets at Jazz is definitely for you. But don't expect this game to soar rating wise compared to Saturday's BYU at Kansas battle on the college basketball side (which is also a contest the Nets' front office and head coach Jordi Fernandez should tune into for future roster reasons).
Those who choose to tune in can once again turn to the YES Network for Nets coverage at 9 p.m. ET. Or can aim to subscribe to NBA League Pass and pick out the premium ($114.99 with more in-arena access) or standard ($79.99 with commercials).
Someone on Brooklyn's side must step up now as the lead scorer. Especially with Demin and Thomas still battling ailments, plus MPJ out.
It won't be Noah Clowney either, as he's enduring a bad back. This looks like an epic stats night for rookies Danny Wolf, Nolan Traore or maybe even veteran Day'Ron Sharpe. Heck, expect a heavier dosage of Drake Powell too including likely earning starter minutes.
Uncertainty with the Nets starting lineup means Brooklyn is the massive underdog here, right?
Wrong! Utah enters as a slight favorite by 3.5-points per FanDuel Sportsbook. Meaning this is a winnable game for the Nets.
Except it's harder to win when none of your top three scoring options are available. Leading to Utah nearly covering here.
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