Los Angeles Clippers vs Phoenix Suns Betting Odds, Lines Picks & Predictions

On Monday night, the Suns will host the Clippers for Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. Phoenix holds a commanding 3-1 lead and has a chance to seal the series with a win. Winning on Monday would take them to the NBA finals for the first time since 1993. And, it would be thoroughly deserved as the Suns are on an amazing postseason run losing only 3 games out 14. Over the whole season, they’re 62-24 SU and 52-32-2 ATS. The Clippers will fight for playoff survival and will likely continue to play without Kahwi Leonard. They’re now 3-3 this postseason without their best player. Their season record now stands at 56-33. Against the spread, the Clips are 49-38-2. The two teams will meet for the 8th time this season on Monday. The Suns have had more success so far, winning 4 times.

Line Movement

The oddsmakers initially had the Suns as -6 favorites but the line has dropped a bit, to -5.5. The total opened at 216. However, early action on UNDER has brought it down to 214.5.

Notes on Los Angeles Clippers

Coach Tyronn Lue has done great job adjusting and keeping the Clippers going without Kahwi Leonard. Still, the offense has been really struggling in the last couple of games. Game 4 was one of the ugliest contests in the recent playoff history with neither team capable of creating much in the halfcourt. On Saturday, the Clippers posted a miserable halfcourt Offensive Rating of only 74.7. Their worst mark prior to this game in playoffs was 96.6 vs Utah in the First Round. Paul George was again the leading scorer with 23 but the heavy load is influencing his efficiency lately. He shot 5-20 from the floor and 1-9 for three in Game 4. Over the last 3 games, he’s 5-30 from the deep. On the other hand, Ivica Zubac continues to be surprisingly valuable in this series. He’s limiting the Suns’ penetration and has posted a 16.7 Net Rating in the last two games.

Besides Kahwi, coach Lue also can’t count on Serge Ibaka, who’s out for the season.

Notes on Phoenix Suns

The Suns are one step away from NBA Finals after snatching a road win in the 84-80 slugfest on Saturday. The 84 points scored by Phoenix were the lowest point total by a winning team in this NBA season. Devin Booker, who still struggles with a nose injury, led the scoring against with 25. In his second game back, Chris Paul managed to score 18 and add 7 assists, but was very inefficient, going 6-22 from the floor. The true Suns’ MVP in this series is Deandre Ayton. The Clippers haven’t been able to handle him on either side of the court in any of the first 4 games. On Saturday, he had 19 points and 22 rebounds. We can probably expect even higher usage for the big man in Game 5.

The Suns are in full health for Game 5.

Betting Pick: The Suns -5.5

It seems that the Clippers have hit the wall without Kahwi. Thorough out first 4 games, they struggled to get good shots both inside and from deep. A lot of it is due to the Suns’ aggressive defense on perimeter and Ayton dominating the paint. We can see this trend continuing on Monday. Also, fatigue should be an important factor. This will be the 18th game for the Clippers in this playoffs, while the Suns have played only 14 so far.