Houston at L.A. Clippers

Time: 9:30 PM (CST), Friday (ESPN)

Spread: LAC -4.5

Total: 226.5

Odds c/o 5dimes

The Los Angeles Clippers enters tonight’s affair as winners of its last three, trailing the Los Angeles Lakers by 2.5 games in the Pacific Division. L.A. is 4.5-point favorites over visiting Houston in NBA odds, with the over/under set at 226.5 points according to NBA oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes. The game will air as the second in a Friday night ESPN doubleheader, with the tip-off scheduled for about 9:30 PM (CST).

L.A.

The Clippers most recently knocked off the Boston Celtics 107-104. The Clippers finally had both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard available, and the duo played 38 and 37 minutes, respectively. Leonard finished just 7 of 20 from the field for 17 points, but he added six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. George shot 8 of 18 for 25 points, five rebounds, and eight assists, though PG13 did have five turnovers. George registered a +17 plus-minus for his 37 minutes, and Pat Beverley was also +17 for his 41 minutes. Bev finished with 14 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and two blocks. Lou Williams came off the bench to add 27 points on 21 shots, while Montrezl Harrell had an off-night with just six points and six boards.

The Clippers do have such resplendent depth, however, that it can afford to have at least one or two of its rotational players underperform and still notch the ‘Ws.’ L.A. is 9-1 at Staples Center this season, and the team has a +6 point differential as it holds opponents to just 106.4 per game while scoring 112.4 itself.

Through four games, George leads the Clips in scoring average at 28.3 points per game. He is averaging five turnovers per game since returning, but that figure will dip to something more reasonable with larger sample size. Leonard is averaging 25.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game. Williams clocks in as No. 3 scorer at 22.5 per.

Harrell is the Clips’ fourth double-digit scorer at 18.1 points per game and with an efficiency rating of 23.46. The Clippers have four others averaging eight points per game or better, and the team is shooting 45.7 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from three (on 31.3 attempts per game). L.A. is a team with very few glaring flaws, and it should make a push to be the 2020 NBA champions with the field more or less wide open now that the Golden State Warriors are made up of rag-tag castaways and no longer the vaunted threat it was over the past half-decade.

HOU

The Houston Rockets had its nine-game win streak snapped by the Denver Nuggets the last outing, falling 95-105. James Harden finished with 27 points on 8 of 16 shooting, and the Rockets were outscored by seven points in the second half after trailing by just three after the first two quarters. Russell Westbrook shot 8 of 22 for 25 points and five assists, but Houston was just 42 percent from the field and it had 20 turnovers in the game.

Harden is averaging a silly 38.4 points per game on the season with 7.5 assists to his credit as well. He is connecting on 34.6 percent of his threes and 43 percent of his field goals while turning it over an “almost excusable” 5.5 times per game. It is excusable simply because Harden produces so much that it is a mere corollary of the ball being in his hands most of the time.

Westbrook has fared well as a Rocket, though. He is shooting 41 percent from the floor while posting per-game averages of 21.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 2.0 blocks/steals in 33.2 minutes a night. The Rockets thus far appear to have great chemistry, which was something that was both developed quickly and unexpected by many naysayers and pundits who mostly felt that Harden and Westbrook would be unable to share the ball well together. Due to the fact that both rely on having the ball in their hands to create offense, it remains to be seen how long and how well this pairing of Westbrook and Harden works.

The pair once was together in OKC, but neither is used to the role they respectively played during that time. Westbrook has averaged 11.5 assists per game over the last two, and his minutes seem to be locked in at 33 to 35 per game, which should take some of the load off of it, in the name of the ever-present “load management.”

The Rockets have also got more offense out of center Clint Capela this season. He is averaging 13 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.2 blocks/steals per game. PJ Tucker has seen his role offensively increase, and he is taking advantage, averaging 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Eric Gordon has seen his role change with Westbrook aboard, and he is not doing as much as he had in the past two seasons, either.

But then again, this is a Houston team that averages 120.3 points per game, so perhaps asking for more offense from any player at this point resembles nothing but greed.