NBA 2022/23, on Friday, 16.12.2022
Of course, the duel between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns could not be missing among today’s NBA tips. Especially since many basketball fans are asking themselves the legitimate question whether the guests are actually in a mini-crisis at the moment.
According to my Clippers Suns tip, this game will not be decided by finesse or superstar qualities, but by sheer muscle power. The Californians, who work better at the basket, could win the match exactly there.
The Suns’ leading scorer Devin Booker sat out his first two games of the season against the Pelicans and Rockets and promptly extended Arizona’s losing streak from three to five.
Yesterday’s 97-111 loss to Houston in particular left some wondering faces. After all, the fact that Phoenix is scoring the fewest points in an NBA game against the weak Texans since the 88-100 loss to the 76ers about a month ago disappoints many.
Chris Paul is finally back, but the Rockets still dominated the Arizonans on the boards. A 44-to-67 rebounding ratio for opponents and a 32% FG rate of their own usually doesn’t win you an NBA game – against anyone.
The Clippers had tremendous injury misfortune last season, so that a team that should have been ranked one through six based on potential alone ended up only getting a brief taste of the playoffs via the play-in tournament.
Now that Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are fit again, things are going much better for the Californians. Especially on the opposing board, Lob City can secure more rebounds and second chance points with this line-up.
This is not only reflected in the Western Conference standings – where they are currently in 6th place – but also in the duels against teams that Los Angeles were able to dominate at will last year.
The best team in the NBA right now is the Celtics, who just a week ago literally dismantled the Suns 125 to 98, but have themselves fallen victim to Lob City of all teams. Yesterday’s result was 113:93 in favour of the Californians.
Not only the performance of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who together scored more than 50 points, was outstanding this evening, but also the extremely good work on the board, thanks to which they were able to hold their ground in the end.
The rebound ratio of 46 to 36 in favour of the Clippers made it clear who enjoyed air supremacy on the perimeter this evening. This should also be seen as a pointer for the upcoming match …
The Suns will definitely have difficulties to assert themselves against the strong physicality of the Clippers, so they will have less chances to get possession of the ball.
To compensate for the lower possession percentage in terms of points, the scoring accuracy would have to be above average. But in the second game of the season without Devin Booker, the 32% FG rate I mentioned earlier doesn’t give me any confidence in that regard.
Devin Booker absolutely must play tonight to at least make the game more even. But if “Book” goes down, the Suns could be sunk again – the risk is there!
At the very beginning of the current NBA 2022/23 season, there was already a duel between the Clippers and Suns, which the visitors from Arizona won relatively clearly with 112 to 95.
However, the balance of power is completely different tonight compared to then.
Because on 24 October, Phoenix went into this duel with Devin Booker (35 points) and Deandre Ayton (13 points) in their starting five.
However, these two regulars will all be missing tonight along with capable bench player Cameron Payne – who still managed to contribute 10 points in the last encounter.
This development seems to have caught the attention of the best sports betting sites in basketball, as the Clippers Suns odds have changed so that Lob City are now favourites to win with odds of 1.80.
Conclusion: I haven’t received any more positive updates on Devin Booker’s deployment in the last few hours, which is why I expect the Suns’ top scorer to miss this top game for the third straight time.
The fact that his team has already lost the other two games without him in the starting five should make it clear why I will not place my cross on the side of the Arizonans this time.
Especially since the otherwise so strong Celtics proved only yesterday how quickly you can lose a game against Lob City if you don’t manage to stand up to their colossi at the basket.
Rebounds and second chance points will most likely decide this duel as well.
My Clippers Suns prediction: Tip 1.
