NBA 2021/22 on Tuesday, 28.12.2021
One of our NBA picks of the week is a top game that has surprisingly little quality to offer. For the clash between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Brooklyn Nets will be missing many superstars.
Nevertheless, my Clippers Nets tip makes it clear why the visitors will also emerge victorious from the game this time. Because they have already proven several times that they can even deal with absences like that of Kevin Durant.
Many top teams are currently suffering from the absence of some of their key players, but not all of them are corona-related. Nevertheless, the Nets are one of the few teams whose second suit fits like a glove even in an emergency!
The New Yorkers are the only NBA team in the Eastern Conference to win more than 70% of its games – even though Kyrie Irving has been missing since the beginning of the season due to his decision not to get vaccinated.
The latter, incidentally, returns in January, which will make Brooklyn an almost invincible force. But we got a taste of how well the Black and Whites’ bench players are currently doing without him last weekend.
Not only Kyrie Irving was missing against the Lakers, but also superstar and driving force Kevin Durant. Nevertheless, James Harden & Co were able to pull the chestnuts out of the oven and lead the Nets to a 122-115 victory over the Californians.
The Black and Whites thus consist of much more than “just” their “Big Three”. It is not for nothing that five of the last six NBA games were won despite all the bottlenecks.
There is also a good chance that Kevin Durant will be fit for the game against the Clippers after all. But regardless of that, Brooklyn has already proven to have enough quality to not simply collapse even in his absence.
So while the Nets are a powerful outfit that I’m not too worried about even without their stars, the Clippers, on the other hand, have already proven they don’t handle the absences of their key players well – and it gets worse.
For the Californians’ game is carried by two pillars. Their names are Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. The latter has been out since the beginning of the season, which has long since affected the team’s performance.
In the past season, Lob City won 65.3% of its regular-season games, but in the current season it is only 50.0%. But this figure also threatens to plummet further in the coming weeks.
Clippers fans only received bad news at the weekend. It is now clear that Paul George will also have to miss the game against the Nets due to injury.
This leaves the Californians in a pretty bad position. Lob City has already lost its two duels against the Nets in the 2021 calendar year – even though Leonard and George scored the most points for their team in both cases.
Moreover, Brooklyn even managed to win the last showdown without their best man Kevin Durant. So if Durantula is out again, his boys will probably be able to do it without him.
The German bookmakers have had to adjust their odds several times in recent days with regard to the upcoming match due to the sudden absence of Paul George – but of course nothing has fundamentally changed in the underdog role.
Lob City will go into this match with odds of 2.40 to win, while the Nets should keep their trousers on even at the Staples Center with current odds of 1.55.
Conclusion: The Nets have proven that they have tremendous quality across the board. After all, they are winning despite the fact that Kryie Irving has been out since the beginning of the season and Kevin Durant has also had to take a break in the meantime – the Lakers send their regards!
But it could be even easier against their city rivals from Los Angeles. For Lob City, in addition to the long-term injured Kahwi Leonard, his mainstay Paul George is also out for the first time.
Both players were their team’s top scorers during the last two showdowns with the New Yorkers, but were unable to avert defeat on both occasions – and that despite the fact that Kevin Durant was already absent last time…
My Clippers Nets tip therefore foresees that the guests will win again with or without their boss.
