Clippers vs. Suns Betting Line – November 12
Carrie Stroup here with your Clippers vs. Suns betting line for Thursday night. Sportsbook.ag Line: Los Angeles -2.5, Total: 207.5
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (5-3) at PHOENIX SUNS (3-4)
A pair of struggling teams look to build momentum with a victory on Thursday night when the Suns host the Clippers.
Both teams have lost three of their past four games including a defeat in their most recent outings. Los Angeles (3-5 ATS) was crushed 118-108 at Dallas on Wednesday and will play this back-to-back affair against a well-rested Phoenix club (4-3 ATS) that has been stewing all week since giving up 124 points in a loss at Oklahoma City on Sunday.
This series has been dominated by the Clippers recently, as they are 8-0 SU (5-3 ATS) since the 2014 calendar year, including a 102-96 win 10 days ago at Staples Center. The series win streak includes four straight victories when visiting the Suns, with lopsided scores of 120-100 and 112-101 in the desert last season.
There are plenty of betting trends favoring both sides on Thursday, as L.A. is 15-5 ATS on the road after a road loss in the past three seasons, and NBA road favorites attempting 18+ threes per game are 225-138 ATS (62%) in November games since 1996. But Phoenix is 44-26 ATS in the past three seasons when the total is 200 to 209.5, and is also 43-25 ATS after an ATS defeat under head coach Jeff Hornacek.
The only significant injury for either team for this matchup is Clippers SG J.J. Redick, who is questionable with a back spasms.
Los Angeles is shooting at a very high percentage this year (46.7% FG, 5th in NBA), but has been dreadful from long range (29.9% threes, 5th-worst in league) and awful from the foul line as well (71.6% FT, 6th-worst in NBA). The team has averaged 105.8 PPG (11th in league), which could be a lot more if the offensive rebounding numbers improve from 8.3 per game, which is 2nd-worst in the NBA.
SF Blake Griffin is off to a flying start to the season with 27.6 PPG on 56% FG and 80% FT, which are numbers much greater than his career averages of 21.6 PPG, 52% FG and 66% FT. In last week's win over Phoenix, he scored 22 points (8-of-15 FG, 6-of-7 FT) with 10 rebounds and zero turnovers.
PG Chris Paul (15.7 PPG, 8.0 APG, 1.3 SPG) did not play great against the Suns with five assists and five turnovers, but he still scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Paul is making only 41% of his shots this season though, including 28% from three-point land. He will really need to be on the mark if the team's top shooter, SG J.J. Redick (14.8 PPG, 53% FG, 44% threes), is forced to sit.
L.A. would also like to see much better long-range accuracy from SG Jamal Crawford (10.1 PPG, 22% threes) and PG Austin Rivers (8.4 PPG, 23% threes). One player who rarely misses a field-goal attempt is C DeAndre Jordan (10.0 PPG, 13.0 RPG), who has made 74% FG, but is shooting a comical 34% from the foul line. But Jordan's 3.5 BPG have been helpful in his team limiting opponents to 103.5 PPG (14th in NBA) on 43.1% FG (11th in league) and 32.1% threes (10th in NBA). Jordan blocked three shots against the Suns on Nov. 2, and his presence was a big reason why they shot only 36.7% FG and 30% threes (9-30) in that loss at Staples Center.
The Phoenix offense has been average this season with 102.1 PPG on 42.8% FG (23rd in league) and 70.5% FG (26th in NBA), but the club is draining threes at a strong 35.3% clip (12th in league). This team also needs to improve in the paint, as its 47.3 RPG ranks sixth-worst in the NBA, and the 18.6 APG is second-to-last.
The backcourt of SG Eric Bledsoe (21.9 PPG, 6.1 APG, 2.1 SPG) and PG Brandon Knight (17.9 PPG, 4.4 APG, 4.3 RPG) are providing the bulk of the scoring this year, with Bledsoe netting 50 points over the past two games. But he shot poorly against the Clippers with 6-of-19 FG and 1-of-4 threes. Knight shot even worse in that loss in L.A. when he made just 4-of-20 FG (1-of-8 threes), but he did add eight assists, seven rebounds, two steals and only one turnover.
PF Markieff Morris (14.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG) provides the scoring down low for Phoenix, and contributed 19 points and eight rebounds against the Clippers last week, but he made only 7-of-22 shots (32%).
Despite the lackluster offense, the Suns are a decent defensive team that allows only 102.3 PPG , and this number could be much lower if they didn't give up 46.2% FG (24th in league) and 34.5% threes (19th in NBA). They have a respectable 9.1 steals per game (13th in league), but are blocking only 3.6 shots per game (2nd-lowest in NBA).
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
