Clippers vs. Nuggets Pick
The Los Angeles Clippers find themselves as a slight underdog tonight when they go on the road to face the Denver Nuggets at 9PM ET.
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Nuggets are favored at home, as they are getting odds of -4 points against the Clippers. The over/under total for the game is listed at 219 points. The Nuggets have won the last two meetings with Los Angeles.
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The Clippers have lost their last two games to drop to 40-28 on the season. They sit fifth in the West standings right now, but are only 1.5 games ahead of the Thunder. The Clippers have failed to cover in three straight games and are now 33-35 against the spread on the season. Los Angeles averages 107.6 points per game on offense while giving up 104.8 on defense. On the road, the Clippers put up 107 points per game while giving up 108. L.A. has announced that Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan will be resting tonight. That takes out over 33 points and 20 rebounds per game for this team. Chris Paul will be in the lineup and averages 17.7 points and 9.2 assists per contest.
The Nuggets have won three straight coming into tonight to get to 32-35 on the season. They sit in the eighth spot in the West by two games. Denver is 36-21 against the spread after covering in their last three games as well. On the season, the Nuggets average 111 points per game but allow 110.7. At home, they allow the same but put up 113.3 points per contest. Denver will be without some stars today too, as Danilo Gallinari is out with a knee injury. He is the team’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game. Wilson Chandler is also out with a groin injury. He averages 16.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest.
Hopefully you don’t have a ticket to this game, because you won’t be seeing the best from either team. The difference in this game will be the shooting of the Clippers. I think L.A. has more scoring options based on the injuries and current lineups. Paul can still find the open players and score on his own while J.J. Redick can get hot quickly.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS +4