NBA Pacific Division is NBA’s Best Race
The Pacific Division is the NBA’s most exciting race as we near the halfway point of the season. Is there a potential World Champion here? Probably not. there might not be a Western Conference Champ in the group either. But there are three good teams that will be a headache for someone in the Western Conference playoffs. But not before they race to the finish for the division title.
The surprise team in the division is the Phoenix Suns. Bolstered by an off season trade with the Division leading Los Angeles Clippers that saw them acquire point guard Eric Bledsoe who is second on the team with 18 points per game just behind the 19 points averaged by Goran Drajic, they are a surprising 21-16 thus far. With the Morris twins, Marcus and Markief and Miles Plumlee and Channing Frye, the Suns have a nice young front court that is playing very well.
The Suns have lost three nail biters in a row by a combined nine points or they would be right in the thick of the race for the lead right now. On Monday, they dropped their second straight two point game, 98-96 to the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. They will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. The last these two met, the Suns got the win at Staples Center by six points 114-108.
The second place Golden State Warriors are 25-14 and rail the Clippers by one game. They are red hot of late with 11 wins in the last 12 games. They are also well rested, not having a game since they beat the Boston Celtics 99-97 last Friday. They will be hosting the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, who have also been hot as of late. The Warriors are once again being led by Steph Curry (23 points per game) and David Lee (19 points per game). Andrew Bogut is leading the team in rebounds with over 10 per game and nearly two blocked shots per game.
The division leading Clippers have been plagued by injuries, but yet have stayed near the top of the division. They just got J. J. Redick back after over a month on the shelf when they lost Chris Paul with what will likely be 20-25 games. That is going to hurt their chances because losing Paul is losing an MVP candidate. Blake Griffin, Jamal Crawford and Redick will really have to step up their games to keep the Clippers on the top of the division. So far it has not been too bad as they have won the last three games without CP3. They are also well rested going into tomorrow night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, not having played a game since Friday’s blowout win over the Lakers.
Bookmaker has odds on tomorrow night’s Pacific Division games:
Mavericks at Clippers– Dallas is +5 -110 and the Clippers are -5 -110 ATS. Over/Under is 207 with over and under both -110. We like the Clippers -5 -110 to cover after four nights off. they should be feeling well rested. We also like the over -110.
Nuggets at Warriors– Denver is +7 -110 and Golden State is -7 -110 ATS. O/U is 212.5 with over and under -110/ We like the Nuggets +7 -110 and the over -110. The Nuggets are getting better all the time. Look for this game to be a close one.
Lakers at Suns– No odds as of yet. We will check back on this one.
