LA Clippers vs Phoenix Suns Odds: Suns Look for Game 2 Revenge
Can the Clippers Steal Another Road Win?
Pressure on Suns to Respond
The Phoenix Suns have surrendered home court advantage in their series with the LA Clippers and will now need to respond in Game 2. Let’s take a look at the LA Clippers vs Phoenix Suns Odds and see what value is on offer for bettors.
The Clippers reminded everyone what they’re capable of in the playoffs with a huge road win that was sealed by some incredible play by Russell Westbrook in the final 2 minutes. Two huge offensive rebounds ended with Westbrook hitting two clutch free throws to give the Clippers a three points lead with less than a minute to play.
Westbrook followed that up with a block on Devin Booker and then deflected the loose ball off the Suns guard to secure possession and the win for the underdogs.
The Suns simply didn’t get enough from Kevin Durant down the stretch and the offensive adjustment needs to be to find him the ball down the stretch in the clutch. The concern though is the heavy minutes garnered by the former MVP, who was made to work hard to get on the ball as he was shadowed by Kawhi Leonard.
The Game 2 markets have opened just as they closed prior to tip-off for the series opener; the Clippers are 7.5-point underdogs with the total set at 225.5 points.
Clippers Bench Comes up Big
One of the biggest advantages the Clippers have in this series is the bench value in their rotations and that very much came to the fore in Game 1.
The Clippers had a 34-10 advantage in bench scoring, with Norman Powell (14 points) outscoring the entire Suns second unit.
The lineup versatility gives us Ty Lue the opportunity to throw different schemes and looks at Monty Williams and the Suns as the series goes on and the extra rest their starters can get could pay big dividends as this series progresses.
The other welcome sight was the return of Playoff Kawhi. The All-Star forward was instrumental at both ends and showed that he can still be the best player on the floor, even in a series that features Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the other side.
Leonard finished with 38 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but perhaps more impressive was that he logged 42 minutes. The key now will be ensuring his body remains conditioned and ready for Game 2 where he’s almost certain to see constant on-ball pressure from the Suns defense.
Leonard’s Points, Rebounds and Assists line will be something worth motiroing for your NBA picks and parlays if his minutes continue to hover above the 40 minute mark.
Suns Need to Dominate Boards
Aside from the obvious bench disparity there’s one thing that stood out to coach Monty Williams after Game 1: the Clippers were +9 in offensive rebounds.
“We gave up 14 offensive rebounds tonight, but timely ones,” said coach Williams after the game. “And we had a couple of mishaps down the stretch.”
Those second chance opportunities helped lead to 11 more field goal attempts for LA, which is glaring in a game that was decided by just two possessions. A lot of those were lapses in concentration and that can be expected when you look at the minutes that their starters logged.
Some of that should be alleviated with the return of TJ Warren (illness) and Cam Payne (back) but even with the bodies they have there’s no excuse for giving up so many second chance opportunities to this Clippers team.
LA ranked 25th in Offensive Rebounding percentage this season, while the Suns were a top-6 team in that category themselves. Dominating the boards will be a point of emphasis in Game 2 and if they can tidy up those lapses they’ll feel confident they can do what’s required to level the series.
While the 7.5 spread seems high after what happened in Game 1 the only way to play this would be to lay the points with the home team. Warren and Payne are expected to be available for Game 2 and having two playmakers and shot creators on the floor with the second unit could be pivotal in ensuring the Suns paly from in front for the majority of this game.
Expect the pace of play to tick up as well with Payne getting meaningful minutes and the Clippers making an active effort to push off pace off missed field goals. The Over looks a strong play and one that I’d be looking to play in these next couple games of this series.
That’s all for our LA Clippers vs Phoenix Suns Odds preview. Be sure to check out all our NBA scores and odds analysis right here at PointSpreads.com.
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