Suns vs. Clippers prediction: NBA picks, odds, bets Thursday

The Los Angeles Clippers return home for a Thursday night encounter with the Suns after an impressive two-game road trip, which included wins against Golden State and Denver. Surprisingly, the Los Angeles defense has carried them despite being without Kawhi Leonard and having a historically poor defensive player — James Harden — in the starting lineup. The Clippers have the third-best defensive rating through the first three games of the 2024-25 regular season.They also rank among the top five NBA defenses in paint points and second-chance points allowed. The only defensive area in which Los Angeles has not been elite has been defending the 3-point line, as opponents are hitting a little more than 37% from deep. The Suns have split their last two games against the Lakers and Mavericks.

They beat Dallas by double-digits thanks to Kevin Durant’s efficient 31-point performance. Phoenix’s offense has been firing on all cylinders, as the Suns rank third in true shooting percentage, sixth in effective field goal percentage and seventh in assist percentage. The Suns’ addition of Tyus Jones at the point guard spot has been a game-changer and could propel them to the top of a hyper-competitive Western Conference. When these teams met on opening night in Phoenix, the Clippers outscored the Suns by 20 points in the paint, courtesy of a 21-point, nine-rebound outing from Ivica Zubac. The Suns shot 40% from 3-point land and still only narrowly pulled out the 116-113 overtime win because of their lack of size and prowess on the glass. That should again be a factor in this early-season rematch. THE PLAY: Clippers +5 (-110, FanDuel)Andrew Norton handicaps the NBA, WNBA, NFL, college basketball and football, UFC and golf.During the 2022-23 NBA season, he achieved a standout 14.1% ROI, cashing 60% of his NBA spread picks and leading Tallysight in its SportsIQ metric....