I must say I was pleasantly surprised at just how good the Clippers looked in their season opener, as they beat the Sacramento Kings 121-96. Granted, most teams will look good when facing the lowly Kings, but 52% shooting from the field and 29 assists is no joke. Darius Garland will likely be a one man show this season, he started off the year with a 30-piece in the win, he got a lot of help from his Clipper teammates with 5 of them scoring in double figures. If the first game is any indicator, head coach Ty Lue will look to play at a fast pace. The tallest Clipper starter was just 6-foot-8, so it’ll be interesting to see how they do against more physical opponents in the upcoming games.
Prior to their season opener on Wednesday, Luka Doncic sent out a letter to Lakers fans saying he and his teammates are aiming to win it all this season and the new-look Lakers didn’t disappoint. Golden State didn’t stand much of a chance, as LA went up by 35 points at one point in the game. Doncic finished with 28 pts, 8 rebs and 7 assists, while Walker Kessler stole the show at center scoring 26 points on 12-for-12 shooting and also grabbing 9 rebounds. Having that big lead, head coach JJ Redick had the luxury of resting some of his guys, the most minutes logged was only 32 by Austin Reaves, which means the Lakers should be okay fatigue wise for Friday. The fact that they’re playing at home again also helps, LA capped off last season by covering the spread at Crypto.com Arena 7 times in their last 10 outings.
They did just that on Wednesday against the Warriors, covering as 6.5 point favorites. This time around the oddsmakers have set the spread at double-digits, which I’m not too comfortable with. The Clippers are capable of putting up a lot of points on the board, them playing a smaller line-up is a clear indicator they’ll look to run here. I am not expecting all that much defense to be play, let’s back the over on Friday.
Clippers vs Lakers Predictions: Over 228.5 Points is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
