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Despite Chris Paul’s return to action, the Los Angeles Clippers once again cut an 0-2 series deficit in half, this time with a Game 3 win over the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers held the Suns to just 92 points at the Staples Center Thursday night, Phoenix’s lowest scoring output since April 22, a span of 27 games, which includes the postseason.
As Los Angeles tries to even the series with Phoenix in a pivotal showdown tonight, let’s jump into the 5 best Suns vs. Clippers Game 4 betting picks and prop bet predictions.
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GET BONUS!Paul and Devin Booker were held to a combined 10-for-40 (25.0%) from the field, the duo’s worst collective output in a game together this season. Meanwhile, Paul George and Reggie Jackson paired up to drop 50 points for Los Angeles, with George adding 15 rebounds and 8 assists.
With Los Angeles needing another home win tonight to send the series back to Phoenix level at 2-2, it’s worth noting that both teams have been victorious in each of their Game 4s in this postseason. Will the Clippers climb back from yet another 0-2 hole or will Phoenix take a commanding 3-1 lead back home for Game 5?
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Hawks vs. Bucks Best Bets and Props (Game 4)
1. Ivica Zubac Over 9.5 Rebounds (DraftKings Sportsbook -143)
Zubac covered his rebound prop (7.5) in the first quarter of Game 3, finishing with 16 total boards, prompting a decisive two rebound bump for his prop total tonight, plus an accompanying angry moneyline. However, the eye test alone tells you another night of double-digit rebounds should not be much of an issue for the Clippers’ starting center.
Zubac logged 33 minutes of court time, his second straight 30+ minute effort and over 10 more minutes than he averaged during the regular season. Zubac has now played 30+ minutes in 13 games this season, pulling down at least seven boards in each of them and double digits in eight of the 13 outings.
When playing 33+ minutes, he tallied at least 10 boards in six of eight tries. His effort at both ends ensures he will see major minutes again tonight and he should get some easy boards late in the game when the Deandre Ayton runs out of gas like he did late in Game 3. There were several minutes in the critical fourth quarter where Zubac (7’0”) was the only starter over 6’8” in the lane, as Ayton just didn’t have the endurance to run the court or fight back to the lane from the perimeter as shots went up.
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CLAIM OFFER2. Patrick Beverley Under 13.5 Points, Rebounds & Assists (DraftKings Sportsbook -122)
Beverley has been at his pesky best in the last two games of this series, getting in Suns’ heads, talking trash, doing the dirty work defensively, etc.
After just 15 minutes off the bench in Game 1, Beverley logged 26 minutes in Game 2 and 27 in Game 3. Yet, despite two games in which it felt like he gave a top-end performance, he only produced mediocre offensive stat lines. He had six points, four rebounds, and one assist in Game 2, followed by eight points, six rebounds, and one assist in Game 3, a game in which five of his eight points came in the final minute of meaningful play.
With Booker and Paul struggling to score as they did in Game 3, it’s only logical that they will bounce back in Game 4. The Clippers will need to counter with more offense of their own. Beverley does not fit that bill and is unlikely to see any more court time than 26-27 minutes, especially given he hasn’t topped 27 minutes since Feb. 21. He has failed to top this 13.5 combined number in 11 of Los Angeles’ 13 playoff games thus far in which he has seen the court, along with six of his final seven regular season games. He is in the game to be an irritant, a defensive pest, not to pile up a big stat line.
He averages just 4.85 points, 2.38 rebounds, and 1.38 assists per game thus far in the Playoffs, producing a combined total of 8.61, well below the 14 needed to beat us here. In a huge game, the ball is likely to go to the more dangerous offensive weapons for the Clippers and Beverley should, once again, stay beneath the required combined points-rebounds-assists number here.
3. Chris Paul Over 1.5 Made Threes (FanDuel Sportsbook -110)
Paul logged 39 minutes and looked none the worse for wear, physically, despite, perhaps, a rusty shooting touch that resulted in a 5-for-19 (26.3%) night from the field. A poor shooting night by his standards, coupled with the 12 assists he dished out, will likely leave the Clippers preferring to force Paul to make open shots, rather than let him beat them with his elite passing.
He was given the 3-point line all night in Game 3 and reluctantly led the team in long range attempts with seven, making two of them. With Payne’s ankle far from a sure thing tonight and the game meaning as much as it does, Paul should again play a boatload of minutes and be given time and space to shoot until he starts making a couple.
But, for a prop such as this, he could make two early threes and the bet could be done and dusted before Los Angeles decides to adjust their defensive approach on the future Hall of Famer. Paul has now made multiple threes in four of his last five games in the playoffs and finished the regular season by making two or more from deep in 11 of his final 15 games.
If CP3 is on the court for 35+ minutes again tonight, like he has been in four of his last five games, he should have every opportunity to make multiple triples. He made at least two from long range in 12 of his last 18 games when logging 35 or more minutes, including each of his last five regular season games with that much game time.
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4. Paul George Over 14.5 Rebounds & Assists (FanDuel Sportsbook -111)
Where Paul George stumbled with two critical missed foul shots late in Game 2, he rebounded in the clutch in Game 3 to help seal the Clippers’ much-needed victory.
His late leadership, however, masked an overall poor shooting night, as George went just 9-for-26 (34.6%) from the field and 3-for-11 (27.3%) from deep which still helped him amass a game-high 27 points.
What did not go unnoticed by us, however, was the effort he put in on the glass and in distributing the ball in Game 3. His desire to help lead his team to victory was clearly evident in those areas, as he finished with eight assists and 15 boards, three of each coming in the final quarter. George will surely, again, play a ton of minutes, topping 40 minutes in 11 of his 16 games here in the postseason.
In 14 games logging 40+ minutes this season, George has averaged 9.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, good for a combined 15.3, which is well above what we need here. Game 3 was a microcosm of a long-standing theme for George and his team. They won that game behind his monster rebound/assist night, which parallels the fact that he averaged 0.8 more rebounds and 0.8 more assists per game in their wins than losses this season. As such, those areas should become a focal point for him tonight.
5. Jae Crowder Over 9.5 Points (FanDuel Sportsbook -112)
The Clippers seemed to expose Deandre Ayton’s lack of fitness across major minutes in Game 3, as the big man labored to be meaningfully involved in the critical latter stages of the game.
With Chris Paul having logged 39 minutes in his first game back from 11 days away, Los Angeles might just decide to keep the tempo high in this one and hope to wear down one or both of those Phoenix key pieces.
If so, Jae Crowder seems the natural choice to see extra minutes in this one. The versatile 6’6” forward can play several positions and is a plus defender, even earning a vote for the NBA All-Defensive Team this season.
Any extra time on the court can only increase the chances of cashing this prop for a guy who already averaged 10.1 points per game in the regular season and 10.8 ppg in the playoffs, including 12.8 ppg in his last 10 outings.
It’s especially likely considering Paul and Booker combined to make just 10 of 40 shots in the Game 3 loss and coach Monty Williams might want them to spend more time penetrating and kicking to open shooters, like Crowder, tonight.
Crowder has tallied double digits in points in six of the Suns’ last nine playoff games, reaching at least eight points in 12 of their 13 outings in the postseason. He also finished the regular season with four 10+ point efforts in his final four meaningful games, part of 32 such performances in 60 tries before the playoffs began (53.3%). This, despite playing over four less minutes per game.
Look for Crowder to have an unexpected abundance of shot attempts tonight and better his Game 4 points per game average of 13.0 with a big night.
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A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
