Suns vs Clippers Pick – NBA Predictions & Odds 4/18/23

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns collide for Game 2 at the Footprint Center on Tuesday night.

The Los Angeles Clippers came into this series as the underdogs, but they must be feeling pretty good now that they hold the series lead with a 115-110 road win over the Suns in Game 1 on Sunday. Kawhi Leonard led the way with 38 points on 13 of 24 shooting, Eric Gordon added 19 points, Norman Powell added 4 points off the bench while Russel Westbrook tallied nine points with 11 rebounds and eight assists. As a team, the Clippers shot 44 percent from the field and 10 of 31 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with their defense, holding the Suns to just 18 points in the first quarter, before they finished with a flurry, pouring in 34 points in the fourth quarter to escape with the narrow win.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns will be kicking themselves after coming up just short in the series opener to the Clippers on Sunday. Kevin Durant led the way with 27 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists on seven of 15 shooting, Devin Booker added 26 points with four steals and three blocks, Torrey Craig added 22 points while Deandre Ayton chipped in with 18 points. As a team, the Suns shot 47 percent from the field and just six of 19 from the 3-point line as they worked hard to claw their way back from an early 16-point deficit, only to allow 34 points in the fourth quarter to allow the Clippers off the hook in the end. Chris Paul tallied 11 rebounds with 10 assists, but scored just seven points on two of eight shooting, while the bench combined for just 10 points compared to the Clippers’ bench who combined for 34 points. 

Looking at the betting trends, the Clippers are 5-1 ATS in their last six Conference Quarterfinals games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven road games against a team with a home record above .600. The Suns are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record, 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Conference Quarterfinals games and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games following a loss. 

Head to head, the under is 6-2 in the last eight meetings overall and the Clippers are 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings in Phoenix.

The Clippers are still missing Paul George while the Suns are keeping an eye on Cameron Payne who is questionable for this one. The Clippers now hold home-court advantage in the series and they would love to double down and take a 2-0 lead back to LA, but the Suns know that they just had a poor game and there is just so much room for improvement. Durant went quiet in the second half of Game 1 and I just don’t see that happening again, not for the second straight home game. There is too much on the line for the Suns to get the win here and I think they get the job done, but the line is just hefty enough for me to back the Clippers to hang around.