Jazz Led NBA in Unexpected Category in 2022-23

If you made some wagers on the Utah Jazz this season, you had a good chance of coming out on the winning end.

According to Bleacher Report Betting, Utah was the No. 1 team versus the Vegas point spread in 2022-23 with a 47-32-2 record. Rounding out the top five were the Philadelphia 76ers (47-34-1), Oklahoma City Thunder (45-34-3), Milwaukee Bucks (43-33-6), and the New York Knicks (45-34-4).

The best against the spread record in the NBA this season was...

The Utah Jazz (47-33-2 ATS)

AMERICA'S TEAM 🤑 pic.twitter.com/3zY0saeGaF
— br_betting (@br_betting) April 10, 2023

This shouldn’t come as a major surprise, as Vegas had Utah pegged to win only 22 games in its preseason projections. So did the Jazz overachieve, or did the oddsmakers miscalculate the level of talent on Utah’s roster?

Nobody predicted Lauri Markkanen to become an All-Star at the start of the year. The former No. 7 overall lottery pick began the season with his third team since being drafted in 2017.

In Markkanen’s last year with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he posted respectable numbers but was never the focal point of the offense. In Salt Lake City, not only did Markkanen trump his previous career high in points by 6.9 ppg, but he did it in the most efficient manner of his young career, shooting at a 49.9% clip from the field.

Also, first-year player Walker Kessler exceeded the pundits' expectations by a country mile. Certainly, the Minnesota Timberwolves would have never pulled the trigger on the Rudy Gobert exchange had they known what lay ahead.

In the month of March, Kessler averaged a double-double (13.8 ppg, 10 rebounds) while also swatting 3.2 shots a game. Protecting the rim was perceived as a Jazz weakness prior to the season, but in the end, it was a strength.

The unexpected production of Markkanen and Kessler, paired with a roster that had more talent than was given credit in the preseason predictions, was a recipe that would turn heads.

Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, Mike Conley, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Kelly Olynyk were already proven veterans that had been a part of playoff rotations in the past. Looking at it objectively, if not for the front office sabotaging the season, this was a roster that should still be playing today.

But that’s all water under the bridge at this stage. Taking the foot off the gas may have been the correct approach when it’s all said and done.

Either way, Jazz fans can agree that 2022-23 could be just the beginning of bigger and better things moving forward.

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