Provided both the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns take care of business on Monday night, the second leg of ESPN’s Hump Day twin bill will decide first place in the Pacific Division and earn the winner of the game the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. With the regular season schedule coming to a close, much will be on the line when these conference rivals square off for the third and final time at online sportsbooks. LA has dominated the recent rivalry taking two of the first two tilts to move to 8-2 SU and 7-3 ATS over the last 10 meetings. But if there was ever a time Devin Booker and his mates were to put an end to the Clippers dominance, it would be in this matchup with Kawhi Leonard not expected to see the floor. LA does however check in 2-3 SU and 3-2 ATS the five times linemakers installed them road underdogs to date, and they defeated the Suns by an average of 7.5 points per game when at full strength.
This Western Conference heavyweight bout is set to go down live on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 with tip-off scheduled for 10 p.m. ET from Talking Stick Resort Arena. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN. We'll have NBA odds available at BookMaker.eu for this and every game on tonight’s NBA slate.
NBA Odds at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
In the three most recent games LA competed without the services of No. 2, it still went on to win each game. However, they had to fight tooth and nail to get by Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. The slim 113-112 triumph saw them fail to cover the closing 4.5-point spread. That was followed up with a very impressive 117-105 handling of Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies in a game they went off the board as 4.5-point underdogs. Then it needed a huge fourth quarter surge just to log the 109-104 outright win against the Rockets who closed as 9-point home dogs. LA will invade New Orleans on Monday night owners of 18-11 SU and 16-12-1 ATS records on the road. Phoenix will close its current Eastern Conference swing out on Monday night when it takes on Julius Randle and the Knicks. It earned a pair of hard fought wins at Milwaukee and Philadelphia to open the trip, but then went on to fall to both Boston and Brooklyn handedly. The team will return to the desert for this one looking to improve upon its fantastic 23-9 SU and 20-12 ATS records as a host.
Los Angeles Clippers
While the Jazz still own the best record in the NBA, it’s the Clippers that’ve garnered more respect from those booking the lines with the playoffs a few short weeks away. The Lakers +175 are still the team to beat on the Western Conference futures odds as they should be since they’re the defending champs. However, it’s the Clippers that own the second shortest odds to win the West +260 with the Jazz +310 in their rearview mirror. That speaks volumes about this squad, so you might want to do some adding to your futures portfolio if you hadn’t already. But time it right. LA’s odds could get much longer with a tough schedule ahead and Leonard not expected to return until early May.
Phoenix Suns
While the Knickerbockers have been the story of the Eastern Conference, it’s been the Suns in the West. Monty Williams and his staff have done an unbelievable job turning the franchise around and into a team all title contenders must take seriously. Schedule makers didn’t do any favors to the squad forcing it to go on a hellacious road trip against some of the best teams in the East with the regular season getting down to the nitty gritty. Regardless, the team has more than held its own to still rank out as one of the best bets the league has to offer. Should they go on to triumph in the Big Apple Monday night, the Suns would snap NY’s 9-game winning streak and hand them their first pointspread defeat since April 2.
Los Angeles vs. Phoenix Prediction
The last time Phoenix took to its home hardwood, it dropped an embarrassing 111-85 decision to the San Antonio Spurs as near 13-point favorites; the loss snapped their 10-game home winning streak. With that, I fully expect Booker and company to return home motivated and determined to put their best foot forward in this matchup. The fact that LA won and covered the two prior meetings will only add more fuel to the fire. With Leonard nothing but a spectator in the third go-round, look for the Suns to make a statement and take the wood to LA right from the opening tip. Booker is likely to go HAM as well, so look to target his player props as early as possible!
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