The Los Angeles Lakers have long dominated the Southern California NBA scene, but they will be the underdog against city brethren the Los Angeles Clippers on Christmas. The Lakers have been on a rebuild for the past couple of years and while they are the de facto home team in this matchup there isn’t much of an advantage since the Clippers players get to sleep in their own beds.
The Clippers are among the best teams in the Western Conference and should be able to take care of business in this one, even after losing leading scorer Blake Griffin for several weeks to a knee injury. Chris Paul is still around to lead the way for a Clippers team which will be the favorite in this showdown.
This war on the floor will go down Sunday, December 25, 2016, at 10:30 p.m. ET at Staples Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Clippers are 20-8 straight up and 13-15 against the spread. Los Angeles has played 15 road games this season and is 7-8 against the spread in those contests. The Clippers are 11-14 against the spread as favorites on the season.
The Lakers are 11-20 overall and 14-16-1 against the spread, as the expectations for them are much lower this year.
The Lakers are 5-7-1 against the spread at home this year and while they do get the season ticket holders cheering them on, there could also be some Clippers fans in the stands since the teams play in the same building. The Lakers are 12-12 against the spread as the underdog this season.
Player to Watch
Chris Paul – The Clippers veteran point guard is still one of the most dominant players in the league and remains a vital piece of this team in his sixth season in Los Angeles. Paul is averaging 17.6 points a game and leads the team with 9.5 assists per game and 2.3 steals.
Paul put up a season-high 27 points against Portland in the season opener on October 27th and then again in the Clippers win over Memphis on November 4th. He also had a triple double on November 29th against the Brooklyn Nets with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
Paul will have one less elite option to pass the ball to without Griffin in the fold. He will need to find other players to get the ball to and may take on a bigger portion of the scoring load with more than 21 points per game sidelined.
Matchup to Watch
110.5. That’s the number of points per game the Lakers are allowing on the season. The team has some talented offensive parts but they don’t always buy in defensively.
In order for the group to pick it up moving forward there needs to be more focus on the defensive side of the ball. A player like Paul should have a big game even without Griffin around. If the Lakers plan on staying in this game, they will need to score a ton of points, likely led by a backcourt which includes Lou Williams and D’Angelo Russell.
Free NBA ATS Pick
The Clippers were the hottest team in the NBA to start the season but have since cooled off. They are not battling the Houston Rockets for the No. 3 seed in the West, and avoiding fourth could be important to stave off a potential matchup with the Golden State Warriors until later in the playoffs.
That is a long way off, but Los Angeles knows every game counts in such a competitive conference. The Lakers won’t be making the playoffs this season and lack the star power to keep up in this game.
The Lakers’ lack of defense will be their undoing as the Clippers should take this one in an entertaining matchup.
NBA Odds: Clippers 114, Lakers 105
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