As we wind down from a big Saturday of NBA Cup games, we still get an eight-game slate this Sunday, with the big one being the Bulls heading to Cleveland with both teams entering off no rest.
Phoenix Suns @ LA Clippers
These two faced off just two days ago in Phoenix, with the Suns blowing them away in the third quarter to set up a big win in Jalen Green’s debut for his new team.
The Clippers look old and slow, but they do get James Harden back, although Kawhi will continue to miss for LA.
Returning back to LA, can Ty Lue’s men get themselves back on the winner’s list, or will this new look high energy Phoenix outfit cause another shock.
LEG 1 - Jalen Green 15+ Points
If whatever Jalen Green does from now on comes close to his Suns debut, Phoenix might have come out of the Kevin Durant trade fine after all.
Green has never had an issue scoring the basketball, and with a bit more license in this Phoenix outfit he poured in 29 points in 23 minutes in his first game this season.
This was against the Clippers at home - although they now head to LA, I still think Green can make an impact against an extremely slow Clippers defence.
LEG 2 - Ivica Zubac 15+ Points
No Kawhi once again for the Clippers, and although Ivica Zubac has been underwhelming to begin this season he showed last start that he’s still an offensive threat.
Zubac scored 23 points in 27 minutes last start against the Suns without Harden and Kawhi, sitting the last quarter due to being blown out in the third.
Assuming this one will be close, Zubac should play around 33 minutes in this - and with Harden the distributor out of the pick and roll he’ll get even better looks this time around.
LEG 3 - James Harden 20+ Points
Only played the one game without Kawhi this season and he went big with 25 points.
Averaging 23.3 points per game this season, even with Kawhi on the floor Harden has put up strong numbers this season despite the Clippers being poor so far, and has scored 20+ points in his last six games, covering in six of his seven games this season.
Hits 20+ points no problems with the additional usage in this.
SAME GAME MULTI
Green 15+ Points / Zubac 15+ Points / Harden 20+ Points = $3.30
VALUE BET
James Harden 12+ Assists @ $4.40
Needs to be a facilitator for the Clippers to win, and has proven to do so in their wins so far this season.
Although they sit 3-5, in the last two wins for the Clippers it’s been due to Harden’s dominance. Against New Orleans, he had 24 points and 14 assists, and the win prior against the Trail Blazers the ‘Beard’ finished with 20 points and 13 assists.
Will also find his, but I think we’ll see Harden get others involved when the Clippers return home to play the Suns - in what is somewhat of a desperate game early in the season.
