Winners of 13 of their last 18 home games, the Los Angeles Clippers look to win their third game in a row when they host the Charlotte Hornets tonight. The Clip Show put a beatdown on two basement-dwellers in the Magic and Suns and have won nine straight games when hosting the Hornets, covering the spread in six of those games. The Hornets, on the other hand, are on the third game of a six-game road trip and are an ugly 5-12 SU in 17 away games this season.
The Clippers opened as 6.5-point favorites with a total of 230.
- The Hornets are 0-8 SU and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games on the road vs the Clippers.
- The Clippers are fifth in points scored per game (115.7).
- The UNDER has hit in 4 of the last 5 games in this matchup.
Hornets vs Clippers Game Center
Hornets Have Gotten Stomped at Staples Center vs Clippers
After dropping four straight games on the road, the Hornets ran over a chumpy Suns team to get their fifth road win of the season. That has been the story for Charlotte lately as the Hornets are 4-15 SU in their last 19 road games against teams with winning records and haven’t had a winning record on the road since the franchise came back to Charlotte in the 2004-05 season.
Kemba Walker is obviously the focal point of this offense at 25.4 points per game but after him, it drops off quickly. The next-leading scorer is Jeremy Lamb at 15.3 points per game and if your second-leading scorer is Jeremy Lamb, I think it’s safe to say that your roster needs an overhaul. The Hornets will likely need to decide sooner rather than later on Walker, who is in the final year of his contract. Lamb is questionable coming into this game with a hamstring injury.
The Hornets are just one of those middle-of-the-road teams that don’t do anything spectacular but aren’t bad enough to rank in the lower tier of any key category. The only thing they do really well is shoot and defend the three, ranking seventh in the NBA with 36.8 percent shooting beyond the arc and holding teams to 34.5 percent from long range to rank ninth.
Losing eight straight road games to the Clippers by an average margin of 12.5 points is a trend I’m not willing to overlook. I will be fading the Hornets in this one.
Scoring Comes Easy for the Clip Show
With three players averaging over 18 points per game, the Clippers may not have the studs like the Warriors but they still get it done at the hoop. Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams are combining to average just under 59 points per game and why that’s significant is that Williams doesn’t even start. Sweet Lou is gunning for another Sixth Man of the Year trophy and he and Montrezl Harrell are killing teams with the second unit as they combine to average 33.8 points per game.
But while the scoring is all well and good, it hasn’t translated to the other end of the court. Los Angeles ranks 24th in points allowed per game (114.3) and is 26th in points allowed in the paint per game (51.5).
I’m on the Clippers tonight because of their track record against the Hornets and because when they’re home faves of 6 points or more, they’re 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games and 2-1 ATS this season.
Is Another UNDER in Store?
The total opened at 230 and the UNDER may be a profitable angle to take in this tilt. The UNDER has hit in four of the last five games in this matchup with an average combined score of 205.4 points per game. The UNDER has also hit in four of the Clippers’ last five games with an average combined score of 224.8 points per game.
My Pick Is…
To take the Clippers to cover the spread. The Hornets are crap on the road and historically have been crap in this matchup. Nothing they have shown this season would prove to me otherwise and the Clippers are the more well-rounded team.
