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The Los Angeles Clippers begin life without Russell Westbrook and Paul George in a new arena on Wednesday when take on the star-studded Phoenix Suns team led by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker at the Intuit Arena.
Playing previously in Crypto.com Arena alongside the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers step out of the former’s shadow beginning this season as they officially play their future games in the new venue.
Will the Clippers’ dominance against the Suns carry over this season or will the latter get some much needed retribution? Keep scrolling as we look at the current state of both teams in this Los Angeles Clippers vs Phoenix Suns sports betting predictions article.
The Los Angeles Clippers head into this game as the 4.5-point underdogs and that has a lot to do with the absence of Kawhi Leonard who will be out indefinitely due to a nagging knee injury.
However, even with Leonard’s absence, the Clippers still have enough offensive firepower to frustrate the Phoenix Suns and possibly pull off the upset.
With Paul George leaving the Clippers to join the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason and Leonard out indefinitely, expect the team’s offense to run through Harden in this game.
One thing that the Clippers have to do here to increase their chance of success is to find ways to contain the scoring trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal.
In their lone defeat to Phoenix last season, Los Angeles allowed the three to combine for 87 of their opponents’ 124 points. If that wasn’t bad enough, they were also out-rebounded by the Suns 48-44 with center Jusuf Nurkic accounting for 19 boards.
Should Los Angeles win the battle of the boards and Harden gets his usual offense going, backing the new-look Clippers to start their season strong and cover the spread might be worth more than a couple of c-notes.
The Phoenix Suns were supposed to compete for the title last year. At least, that’s what the bookmakers thought, putting them at +600 to win it all.
However, everything went to naught when they got swept by the surging Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. Now, the Suns are back in title contention as among teams who will likely compete for the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy.
Unlike other teams which made major moves during the offseason, the Suns almost kept their lineup intact, only letting go of Drew Eubanks, David Roddy, and Eric Gordon.
Although the departure of Gordon could adversely impact the Suns’ offense, it was clear that there was a logjam in the Suns backcourt and letting go of the former LA Clippers star was the only way for their offensive playbook to work.
With the Clippers missing its star player in Kawhi Leonard, backing the Suns to get the job done and cover the spread on the road seems the most sensible play at these current odds.
If Kawhi Leonard was available in this game, then the Los Angeles Clippers might have a chance of beating the Phoenix Suns.
With Leonard out, however, I just don’t see the Clippers pulling off the W even if James Harden does end up with a big game. Give me the Suns to cover and win on the road.
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