Top and bottom meet when the Western Conference’s last placed Phoenix Suns take on the West’s surprise leaders the Los Angeles Clippers in an inter-conference showdown on Wednesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
The Suns enter this game with a 4-15 record and are coming off a 107-118 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Detroit. Meanwhile, the Clippers find themselves on top of the ultra competitive Western Conference with a 13-6 record. The Clippers are coming off impressive back to back wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and the Portland Trail Blazers.
This looks like another season to forget for the Phoenix Suns as they continue to struggle to get wins. However, the Suns got their signature victory of the early season when they beat the Eastern Conference powerhouse Milwaukee Bucks 116-114 last Friday on a game winning basket from veteran guard Jamal Crawford. Crawford hasn’t played as expected but he’s scored a total of 39 points in his last three games.
Devin Booker is the bright spot in the valley of the Suns. The former Kentucky standout leads the team in scoring and assists with 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game this season. Booker entered Tuesday’s game against the Pacers averaging 31.5 points per game in his previous four contests while going 11-28 or 39% from behind the three point arc during the period. But outside Booker, T.J. Warren and DeAndre Ayton, the Suns have not gotten consistent offense from their other players.
The Suns are third from the bottom in team scoring at just 104.4 points per game and Phoenix is also just 15th in assists at 23.7 helpers per night. On the defensive end, Phoenix ranks a mere 29th in rebounds at 39.8 boards per game and are a far 26th in scoring defense at 114.3 points per game allowed.
After the teams have played one-fourths of their 2018-19 regular season schedule, the Los Angeles Clippers are the biggest surprise of the season. At 13-6, the Clippers sit on top of the Western Conference, ranking higher than fancied teams like the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. In fact, the Clippers are on pace to top their preseason predicted win total by an impressive 18 games.
Offense is what got them to this point. The Clippers rank sixth in offensive efficiency and are fourth in true shooting percentage. The main reason behind that is the stellar play of leading scorer Tobias Harris, who is having a breakout year. Harris is averaging 21.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. More importantly, he is hitting 52.5% of his shots from the field. To put Harris’ efficiency in perspective, 31 players have attempted at least 300 shots at this stage of the season including Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. Harris leads the group in effective field goal percentage.
As a team, the Clippers are the third highest scoring team in the league at 116.8 points per game but are only 22nd in assists at 22.2 dimes per outing. On defense, Doc Rivers’ squad ranks 10th in rebounds at 46.8 caroms per contest but are only 21st in the NBA in scoring defense at 112.5 points per game allowed.
The Phoenix Suns lead the all-time series between these two teams at 130-86. However, the Los Angeles Clippers have won eighteen out of the last 20 games between these two teams including the last eight meetings.
The Suns are 1-4 SU in their last five games played and are 1-9 SU in their 10 home games this season. The Clippers are 4-1 SU in their last five games and are an impressive 8-1 at the Staples Center this season. Head to head, the Clippers are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games against the Suns. Los Angeles is also 10-0 SU in their last 10 meetings in Los Angeles.
As we said at the top of this preview, this is a battle between the top and bottom of the West. With the top team playing at home and having an 8-1 record at home this season, I don’t think the Suns are going to be much of a threat. Also, the Clippers have dominated the last 20 games of this matchup and have blanked the Suns in their last eight meetings.
Not only are the Clippers playing better, they are playing better together as a unit. This game is also the second in back to back nights for the Suns so that makes playing at Staples Center much tougher. We’re picking the Los Angeles Clippers to beat the Phoenix Suns on 11/28/18.
The Suns are 8-11 ATS in 19 games played this season and are 3-7 ATS in 10 road games played so far during this campaign. The Clippers are 12-7 ATS in 19 games this season and are 7-2 ATS in their 9 games played at home .Head to head, the Clippers are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 meetings.
The Clippers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 home games and have dropped just two games ATS against the Suns in their last 10 meetings. The Suns don’t have consistent scoring behind Booker, Warren and Ayton. Meanwhile, the Clippers have five players averaging in double digits this season. The number 3 scoring team in the league meets the 28th ranked scoring team in the NBA. This should be a big win for the Clippers who are coming off impressive wins over fellow Top 8 teams Portland and Memphis. Prediction: Clippers -10
The under is 10-9 in Phoenix’s 19 games overall and the total has gone over in 6 out of their 10 road games played. The over is 12-7 in the Clippers’ 19 games this season and the over is also 6-3 in their nine home games. Head to head, the under is 3-1 in the last four meetings between the Suns and Clippers.
The over is 4-1 in the Suns’ last 5 road games and 9-3 in their last dozen games on zero days rest. The over is also 4-0 in the Clippers’ last four home games. Phoenix is third from the bottom in team scoring but the Clippers make up for that by being the #3 scoring team in the NBA. Their defenses are ranked 21st (Clippers) and 26th (Suns) in the NBA. I expect a high scoring game on Wednesday. Prediction: Over 225.5
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