Monday night features a battle of fourth-place teams as the Los Angeles Clippers (30-26, 4th in West) take on the Brooklyn Nets (32-30, 4th in East). The Nets will host this one at the Barclays Center, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
The Clippers are the favorites in this one despite playing on the road. They are -260 to win, while the Nets’ moneyline sits at +215. The spread features the Nets as 6.5-point underdogs (-112).
Clippers Trying To Continue Stretch Of Good Ball
At 30-26 overall, the Los Angeles Clippers rank fourth in the Western Conference, 8.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets. Still, with eight teams within three games of the Clippers, Los Angeles knows it needs to play good ball.
Luckily for the Clippers, they have been playing well as of late. They have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games and won their last game against the New York Knicks 134-128 in overtime. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 65 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists in the victory.
Those two have been the leading scorers for the Clippers all season. George is averaging 23.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists this season. Leonard is averaging 22 points, 6.2 rebounds, and four assists per game.
On the year, the Clippers rank just 28th in scoring, averaging 111 points per game (113.7 on the road). They are much better on defense, though, ranking third overall, allowing opponents just 110.8 points per game.
New Era In Brooklyn
Despite their solid overall record, there has certainly been some tension in Brooklyn. Not only is superstar Kevin Durant out with a knee injury, but Kyrie Irving was shipped to Dallas on Sunday in a deal that nets Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and draft compensation.
Without Durant and Irving, the Nets’ top scorers are out for this one. Furthermore, Seth Curry is out with a thigh injury, and Ben Simmons is questionable with a knee injury.
That leaves Nic Claxton as the only scorer averaging double digits currently on the Nets. In 49 games, he is averaging 13 points, 9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game.
Brooklyn won their last game, but they are just 5-5 in their last 10 games, and that was with Kyrie Irving playing most of the games. In their last outing, a 125-123 win over Washington, Cam Thomas led the way with 44 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
Take Clippers To Win And Cover
Looking at the trends, the Clippers are 6-2 straight up and 7-1 against the spread in their last eight games. They are also 6-1 against the spread in their last seven road games.
As for the Nets, they are 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games and 14-4 overall in their last 18 home games. Against Western Conference opponents, they are 9-3 against the spread in their last 12 games.
The Nets are hoping that moving on from Kyrie Irving can be addition by subtraction. They got a couple solid pieces returning in the deal, but they won’t be available for this one.
With the Nets shorthanded, the Clippers should be primed to pick up a win despite playing on the road Monday night. Take Los Angeles to win and to cover the 6.5-point spread (-108).
