Los Angeles Clippers vs Phoenix Suns betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA Playoffs game on NBA TV. It’s a pivotal Game 3 between the Suns and Clippers with the series lead on the line tonight at crypto.com Arena. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Los Angeles Clippers
After a 3-for-19 performance in Game 1, Russell Westbrook put on a show in Game 2 with 28 points on a much more efficient shooting, but his team couldn’t capitalize as they fell on the road 123-109. Kawhi Leonard did his thing with his usual 31 points on over 50% shooting, but as a team the Clippers shot just 36% from three and just couldn’t stop the Suns ball movement.
Phoenix finished that game with 30 assists, head coach Ty Lue will have to make an emphasis on stopping that from happening in Game 3. Playing in front of the home fans should be a welcome sign for the Clippers, they finished the year with a 23-18 SU record at crypto.com Arena, but it is worth noting that they lost both meetings against the Suns there.
Phoenix Suns
Just like in the first 2 games of this series, the Suns open as favorites and this time around that number is slightly lower at 3.5 points. They were able to correct all the mistakes in Game 2 from the series opener and now face a real character test with the next 2 games being on the road.
The likes of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have logged a ton of minutes over the first 2 games, that could be a sign for concern knowing their injury history. Booker dropped 38 points in the win on Tuesday, the Clippers are having a hard time dealing with him without Paul George. Tuesday’s game was the 5th time in 7 meetings that the Suns were able to cover the spread, they’ve now won 7 of their last 10 games vs Western Conference opponents.
This has been one of the more unpredictable series so far and I would argue that it’s most likely going 7 games. These next 2 games will end in a split, so the only question is who takes which game. I’m going to go with the home team here, Kawhi Leonard has shown he still has it and the role players should be able to play better at home. Take the Clippers.
Los Angeles Clippers vs Phoenix Suns Predictions & Odds
Defense is what got LA the victory in Game 1 as they held the Suns to under 100 points. This match-up has been one of the lower scoring ones in the NBA over the past 10 games between the two teams. An average of just 214.8 points per game was scored during that stretch, good enough for a 3-7 record on the O/U.
The Clippers were the team with the most unders in home games during the regular season, cashing on that bet 26 times in 41 games played. That bet has also landed in 7 of the last 8 meetings at crypto.com between the Suns and Clippers, so all the stats are pointing to a lower scoring game here. With the projected total of 226.5 points being exceeded only twice in 6 meetings this season, I feel like taking the under is the way to go here.
