The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers square off in the NBA’s Halloween nightcap.
The pregame narrative: Phoenix is rolling and gets Los Angeles on a back-to-back. I expect the Suns to win and am backing Devin Booker and James Harden to clear alternate point and 3-point totals, respectively.
Check out my Suns vs. Clippers same-game parlay predictions for Oct. 31.
Suns vs. Clippers predictions
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Parlay: Suns moneyline + Booker over 22.5 points + Harden over 2.5 threes (+285)
Suns moneyline (-205): The Suns’ Big Three is healthy and they’re looking good so far.
Phoenix is 3-1, with wins over the Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are efficiently filling the basket, but Mike Budenholzer’s calling card early on has been a stingy defence.
The squad ranks sixth in defensive rating and is holding opponents to the ninth-lowest field-goal percentage.
Without Kawhi Leonard in the mix, I struggle to see an aging Clippers roster buck that trend on the second night of a back-to-back. L.A. was 6-9 straight up on no rest last season.
SGP legs
Booker over 22.5 points (-175): Booker scored only 15 points against Los Angeles in the season opener, but he shot 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from deep.
Since then, he’s averaging 18.6 field goal attempts per game and has cleared this line in two of three contests. He just dropped 33 points on the Lakers and played a team-high 39 minutes.
I won’t let his opening night production discourage me because this should be a nice matchup.
The Clippers allowed the eighth-most points per game to opposing SGs last season, according to Fantasy Pros.
Booker averaged 27.1 PPG last season and cleared this line in 46 of 68 starts (67.6%).
Harden over 2.5 threes (-155): With the way stars tend to rest in the modern NBA, there is a chance Harden sits out tonight. But at home, against a divisional rival, I’m hoping L.A.’s main man plays.
The Beard ranks third among all starters in usage rate (33.9%) and is heaving up 9.3 threes a night. He’s only cleared this line once but went 5-of-11 from deep yesterday and 2-of-12 the game before that.
If he keeps firing at this rate, I love his chances of clearing this total.
Phoenix is a fine defensive team, but it ranked a middling 16th in opponent 3-point percentage last year. And this year, it ranks 22nd through four games.
Picks made at 8:52 a.m. on 10/31/24.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.