Suns-Clippers NBA Playoff Series Betting Preview: Fourth-seeded Phoenix tipped as favorite over Los Angeles – Jugo Mobile

When the Suns traded for superstar Kevin Durant — a four-time scoring champion and two-time Finals MVP — the entire NBA universe thought Phoenix might finally have enough to win a title, not just for the city but also for ringless franchise mainstays Chris Paolo and Devin Booker. Three games into KD’s tenure with Phoenix, that idea was already in jeopardy after KD suffered an ankle injury in warmups for his Suns home debut. Now KD is back, but another challenge lies in his and Phoenix’s immediate future: fellow two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. Let’s take a look at the betting odds for Suns-Clippers and help you decide on a few bets worth making for this thrilling Western Conference opener showdown.

Quietly, this could be the best series of Round 1 of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, and not just because Durant and Leonard are silent killers, capable of end-to-end, wire-to-wire domination that only a small percentage of the league can replicate. . These are also two teams that tick multiple boxes needed for strong playoff series: star power, depth, and good coaching.

Durant may still be a top five option in this league, but he’s arguably Phoenix’s second option (which is quite a luxury). Booker has consistently proven himself to be one of the Association’s top pure scorers, making many pundits short lists of the current best players. And CP3 remains a lethal playmaker, a deadly mid-range shooter, and an underrated perimeter defender. When you have a team that has the luxury of having a big man and former #1 pick DeAndre Ayton as their fourth scorer, you have a team that will contest the championship.

Los Angeles will be firmly in the mix as long as the Claw is healthy. The ever-focused, machine-like Leonard has gone nuclear since he lost his right arm Paul George to a sprained knee. The funny boy averages in April: 29.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists. His shooting splits in that span are just as impressive (50.6 / 42.3 / 88.0). The man is stuck and his high offensive contributions have spaced the floor well for fellow impact players Russell Westbrook, Norm Powell and, to a lesser extent, Eric Gordon. If PG13 loses just a game or two early in this streak, the Clips could be an upset contender for the dark horse.

Los Angeles also has strong home play with Ivica Zubac and trade deadline acquisition Mason Plumlee, both of which could give Ayton and the Suns backup to all-series big Bismack Biyombo. Phoenix has plenty of perimeter firepower to shut down the fifth seed with a 2-0 series lead before the Clippers even know what hit them. Sure, Phoenix is ​​missing star three-and-D specialist Mikal Bridges and three-point shooter Cam Johnson, both part of the package that won James Jones the Durant lottery, but the Suns have plenty of serviceable veterans like Torrey Craig, Terrence Ross and Josh Okogie to keep their seats open.

We are excited about this series and think it will be fun to bet and watch. Let’s take a look at the odds, reveal some stats and betting trends, and make our predictions for the first-round clash between the Suns and the Clippers.

BETMGM PROBABILITY: Spreads, moneylines, props, parlays – you get it all with BetMGM!

Suns vs. Series Odds, Picks, Predictions Clippers

Odds courtesy of BetMGM

Oddsmakers believe in the Durant factor, as well as the fact that Paul George will likely miss at least a couple more games. At -600, the Suns have a more than 85% implied win chance, ranking them as one of the biggest first-round favorites in the West. Their Game 1 lines are also huge: -300 on the moneyline and -7.5 against the spread. Those betting on this series going OVER 5.5 games can find that action at just -110, meaning BetMGM believes Phoenix should wrap up their sweep or gentleman’s sweep after game 5 at the Footprint Center.

It probably helps that Phoenix went 28-13 at home while the Clippers only went 21-20 from Staples Center. It also helps that Monty Williams’ side went 18-13-1 against the spread as home favourites. The Clippers went 10-10 ATS as street dogs and 4-6 ATS as house dogs. There’s a lot of data supporting a Suns pick, especially with the uncertainty surrounding George.

Of course, the uncertainty around George can work either way. If he returns for Game 3, his presence on both offense and defense will be just in time for the must-win game in Los Angeles. Remember the old adage “The playoff series doesn’t really start until the home team loses”? It’s stupid, but in the case of the Clippers it applies. They can comfortably hold out PG13 for the first two games in Phoenix, bring him back for home wins in Games 3 and 4, and then pair a Game 6 home win with a Game 5 or Game 7 win. road, but anything is possible with PG13 and Kawhi on the floor together.

Let’s talk about why the Clippers, who finished the season on a 6-3 run, can make more noise in this series than the oddsmakers think. The main reason is high offense. Thanks to Kawhi transforming into the superhuman version of himself and Westbrook finally acclimating to his new team, the Clips have risen to nearly every level offensively since the All-Star breakup. In that span, they averaged 8.4 more points and four more assists, while also substantially improving their shooting times:

For us, it all boils down to (a) offensive weapons and (b) team defense. The Suns are loaded with microwave scorecards all over the floor, while the Clippers often have a hard time finding and getting a good look outside of Leonard. Westbrook has enjoyed a strong April and Norm Powell has looked every bit a contender for sixth man of the year when he’s healthy this season. We know who Russ is at this point in his career, and he certainly isn’t the second or third best player on a team fighting for the championship. We’re going to give Los Angeles the benefit of the doubt in the sense that we believe Ty Lue’s guys can take this to six games, but we’re not going to go “Kendrick Perkins Spicy Take” and pick out the clips to whip up the massive upset The Core Phoenix All-Star.

NBA Playoffs 2023 odds: Suns-Clippers adjusted series result

Since we like the Suns to win the series, our best bet is to bet they win in six games. Whatever you do, don’t bet Phoenix at -600 to win the series. Where’s the value? Earn less than $17 on a winning $100 bet! You’d be much better off betting their money line in individual home games and, depending on value, their spread in away fixtures. The optimal path, in our view, is to spread a few bets on “outcome of the series” props that all pay more odds.

We could understand bets on the winner of a series without including total games played if this series was projected to be much closer, like the Warriors-Kings NorCal battle or the Cavs-Knicks duel. Considering that we have a relatively high level of faith in the much more talented and deep Suns to prevail over the Clippers, we can realistically narrow the series result to the Suns down to five, six or seven games.

My prediction and bet is Suns 4-2, which yields +400, but if you want to be conservative and greatly increase your odds of winning cash, you can split your Suns-Clippers series budget three ways and bet one-third on Suns in five, one-third on Suns in six and one-third on Suns in seven. A $33 bet and win on one of the +400 props would net you $132, while a $33 bet and win on the +240 prop would net you just under $80 in profit.

Betting tips: Best Bet: Put $100 on the Suns to win the series 4-2 (+400). The conservative bet to greatly increase your chances of winning but simultaneously reduce your total winnings: Bet $40 on Soli 4-1 (+240), they are $30 Soli 4-2 (+400) and $30 up Soli 4-3 (+400). Of course, we also like the OVER on 5.5 total matches shore (-110).

NBA 2023 playoff odds: Double game/series prop for Suns-Clippers

This is another way to avoid the heavy money line juice of Phoenix’s Game 1 (-300) as well as the series win of the super juicy Suns (-600). Betting on the Suns to win game 1 E the -250 series is a nice parlay that makes a lot of sense. historically, teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series wins the series over 75 percent of the time. Teams winning Game 1 best-of-seven at home win the series over 85% of the time. The Suns have massive home field advantage, posting a . 682 winning percentage on Footprint, and we love that they take care of business in the first and last games of the series.

Betting tips: Go with the Suns to win Game 1 and Suns to win the series (-250).