Suns vs. Clippers Odds, Game 3 Preview, Picks, & Prediction

by Sloan Piva (SloanPiva) Last Updated 2021-06-25 10:46:59

Suns vs. Clippers Odds

The Phoenix Suns have won more games than any other team since the start of the 2020-’21 NBA season (61), with a league-leading 72.6 winning percentage. They’ve been exceptional against the spread, too. Now, with a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers, they get their team leader and floor general back in Chris Paul, as Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard remains out with a sprained knee. Life is good for Suns Nation and any NBA bettor who had the foresight to bet on Suns’ futures odds earlier during the season. Currently, their NBA Finals odds are down to +110 at online sports betting sites.

Of course, things could have looked vastly different in this series if not for a perfectly-executed final play in Game 2. As is so often the case, this one proved to be a game of inches. Down one point with under one second left, Suns forward Jae Crowder inbounded an alley-oop to big man Deandre Ayton, who jammed it home just over the outstretched fingers of Clippers center Ivica Zubac.

The result? Suns win by one. Clippers dejected and downright pissed off. Suns now own a commanding 2-0 lead. Stock in broom companies starting to rise.

Los Angeles appeared to have flipped the script toward the end of Game 2. The Clips waged a superb comeback, and were poised to seal the deal with Paul George at the line. But PG13 missed both free throws, and the stage was set for the Crowder-to-Ayton connection. Crowder, no stranger to playoff heroics—and Ayton, who has been incredible around the rim this series—did not disappoint.

Suns’ X-Factors Shine

Phoenix has now won a franchise-record nine straight playoff games. For the majority of that streak, fully-emerged superstar Devin Booker has been the main catalyst. But with Booker posting a pedestrian (for him) 20 points in Game 2, and Paul still out due to COVID protocols, it was Ayton and backup point guard Cameron Payne who saw their legends grow Tuesday.

Payne, a journeyman point guard who has played for four different franchises since he entered the league in 2015, provided the fire Phoenix needed. He kept the pedal to the metal in the second half, and finished with a career-best 29 points and nine assists. Dare I say he’s a ‘journeyman’ no more?

All season long, the Suns narrative has been about a bunch of solid individual talents forming a truly amazing team dynamic. Credit Executive of the Year James Jones for putting it all together, and brilliant coach Monty Williams for making it work so seamlessly.

Suddenly, picking Ayton over Luka Doncic and Trae Young in the 2018 NBA Draft doesn’t seem so nuts. Though definitely a mistake, it’s a mistake that may very well pay off if the Suns, led by Pual and Book, with Ayton by their side, deliver an NBA title to the desert in a few weeks. The third-year big man has feasted this series, continually shoveling in rebounds and high-percentage lobs, put-backs, and high-screen rolls. Ayton finished with 24 points and 14 boards, a line that does his overall impact on the W little justice.

Bettors Losing Confidence in Clippers

How can anyone bet against Phoenix right now? LA’s most dominant player on both sides of the floor remains sidelined with a knee injury. George has provided superhuman levels of effort in Leonard’s absence, and point guard Reggie Jackson has been a welcome surprise as LA’s playoff x-factor. But they just don’t have enough help.

It’s great that Zubac played well in the first half of Game 2, making LA coach Ty Lue look good (at least for a stretch) for going big. It was also a welcome sight for Clippers fans to see Patrick Beverley aggressively pestering Booker all night, and even breaking Book’s nose on a (probably accidental?) collision. But if only one of your players scores 20 points, and you get dominated on the interior, you’re going to have a tough time making the Finals.

George also cannot be missing five of 10 free throw attempts. A perennial All-NBA talent with a murky postseason history is doing himself no favors missing clutch free throws in a game that’s decided by one point.

But I digress. We could pick apart a million things that LA did wrong in crunch time Tuesday (case in point: why wasn’t the humongous DeMarcus Cousins blocking off Crowder’s sight line/passing angle to the hoop with under a tick left!?). But all anyone really needs to know about this series is that Phoenix is playing its best basketball of the year, a season in which it has gone 50-17 as a favorite, and LA continues to sorely miss its most lethal weapon.

Suns vs. Clippers Picks and Predictions

Ride this beautiful solar wave, Grinders. The Suns will only improve with their floor general CP3 back in action, and he should be extra energized after a week off for “precautions.” He should also be extra motivated to ball out against his former squad at Staples Center, where he was the face of the Clippers franchise for six seasons.

Feeling gutsy? Go with the home underdog, and hope George doesn’t choke in the clutch again. I’ll be going with the better team top to bottom, with the better coach and one of the eight best winning streaks in NBA postseason history. Throw on some shades and hop aboard this bandwagon, my fellow basketball bettors—this season, the Suns are the ones.

• HALFTIME PREDICTION: Suns 58-54
• FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Suns 117-114
• GAME 3 PICK ATS: Suns -1

Image Credit: Imagn