Suns-Clippers best bets: Booker to stay hot in Game 2
After riding a stellar performance from rising star Devin Booker in Game 1, the Suns enter Game 2 as sizable home favorites over the reeling Clippers. Can Booker deliver another masterpiece to help his side to a 2-0 lead?
Here are our favorite bets for Tuesday's game.
Clippers @ Suns (-4.5, 223)
Can anyone in the world stop Booker right now? The Suns' red-hot shooting guard has been electric this postseason, averaging 29 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists entering Tuesday. He's saved his best for the biggest stage, too, dropping a 40-point triple-double on 51.7% shooting in Sunday's six-point win.
With Chris Paul still out due to health and safety protocols, the Suns need Booker to stay hot from the floor, but his passing might be his greatest weapon in this series. Phoenix finished Sunday's contest with a stellar 31:7 assist-to-turnover ratio and didn't turn it over once in the fourth quarter, helping spark a game-changing 21-11 run of which Booker was responsible for 17 points.
The Clippers have a habit of ceding big games to opposing star guards early in their series, too. In their first-round series against the Mavericks, Luka Doncic averaged 35 points, nine assists, and 8.5 rebounds in Dallas' two series-opening victories. Donovan Mitchell scored 45 and 37 points in Games 1 and 2, respectively, in a pair of Jazz wins in the second round.
As long as Kawhi Leonard remains sidelined, Los Angeles doesn't have a singular defensive matchup that can corral Booker. Paul George is skilled and athletic enough for the task but is too important offensively to expend all of his energy chasing Booker. And if the Clippers start swarming the 6-foot-5 sharpshooter with too many defenders, he'll make them pay by finding open teammates, as he did throughout Game 1.
It all adds up to a gargantuan task for Los Angeles in Tuesday's contest. If Tyronn Lue's group can't find a way to limit Booker in Game 2, the result will look an awful lot like it did in Game 1 - and limiting Booker is seemingly an unsolvable task in this postseason. Bet high on the Suns guard's player props and on the team to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
Pick: Suns -4.5
C Jackson Cowart is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on Twitter (@CJacksonCowart) or email him at cjackson.cowart@thescore.com.