NBA: LA Clippers vs. Brooklyn Nets Preview, Odds, Prediction

The LA Clippers and the Brooklyn Nets meet at Barclays Center on Sunday night. The Clippers are in a tough position without their best players with several mediocre performances. On top of that, the team from California plays its third consecutive game away from home, all of them on far East. As for the Nets, they have both KD and James Harden at disposal, but that didn’t help them against the Philadelphia 76ers in the latest event. We’ve seen them losing that one, even though these two guys posted solid stats.

Preview

LA Clippers (18-18, +600) come in this one as massive underdogs. And how wouldn’t they be, without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, plus several other important players. LAC lost three of the previous four events, two at home to the Denver Nuggets and the Nets, before beating the Boston Celtics and again losing to the Toronto Raptors.

The final result of that event was 116-108 for the Canadians, who had 17 boards more than their rivals, 54-37. The astonishing fact is that the LAC had only three offensive rebounds, while the Raptors posted 18.

Marcus Morris Sr. had 20 points, with six boards, Terance Mann had 18 with 11 boards, and Reggie Jackson dropped 16. Amir Coffey was superb off the bench with 15 points and was a true refreshment, while Luke Kennard contributed with 13 points in 40 minutes.

Brooklyn Nets (23-10, -900) have lost against the 76ers at home in their previous event, 110-102. It was the first game for Kevin Durant since clearing the health and safety protocols. Though, it didn’t bring any good for the top favorites for the title.

The poor long-distance shooting was the main issue for the hosts, who made only seven of their 27 shots. Despite outrebounding the rivals, 52-43, Brooklyn couldn’t win. One more reason for that were turnovers, as Steve Nash’s unit committed 18, and the 76ers only 8.

Both KD and James Harden had 33 points each in this event. The Beard would post a triple-double with 14 boards and 10 assists, hitting 14 of his 18 free-throw shots. KD added six rebounds, while shooting 13-for-24 from the field. LaMarcus Aldridge had 12 points and 8 boards, and Nic Claxton had 10, while the entire bench scored nine points. That might be, in fact, the biggest reason for this defeat.

Head to Head

The Nets and the Clippers already played five days ago in LA. The game’s final result was 124-108 for the guests, who appeared without Durant and Aldridge. Of course, the hosts didn’t have George and Leonard. Harden had 39 buckets, only five from the foul line. Claxton and Mills had 18 each for the Nets. The top scorer of the home unit was Morris, with 24 buckets.

Prediction

The Nets will roll over the rivals, especially after an unpleasant and unplanned defeat at home to the Philadelphia 76ers. So don’t have the slightest doubt about the final outcome here. Yet, the odds on this suggestion are very, very low, and in order to increase them, we are going to bet on the hosts to cover an -11-point spread. That is also pretty realistic, and the profits are much higher, -110.

Pick: Nets -11