An entertaining first round NBA Playoff series gets underway Sunday night when the Los Angeles Clippers (44-38, 21-20 away) visit the Phoenix Suns (45-37, 28-13 home). The Clippers will be without Paul George for the start of this series and that could cost them any chance of winning. Phoenix has all of their big guys back and they have been dominant this season when fully healthy. Below is my NBA pick for the Clippers vs Suns.

Los Angeles Clippers vs Phoenix Suns Betting Pick

The Pick: Phoenix Suns -7.5

This game will be played at Footprint Center at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Why Bet the Phoenix Suns:

✅ Phoenix has been good of late against the spread, having covered six of their last nine games played.

✅ The Suns have won seven of their last nine games overall and six of their last seven home games.

✅ Los Angeles has struggled against the spread, having covered just one of their final five regular season games.

Los Angeles Clippers Ready to Start Playing

Los Angeles enters the NBA Playoffs as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but they will not be happy with who they drew in the first round. The Clippers are going to have to face a fully healthy Suns team that is going to be the favorite to get out of the Western Conference. Not having Paul George for the beginning of this series could be the beginning of the end for Los Angeles.

The Clippers have been balanced this season, with them resting everyone all the time, and are led by Norman Powell and his 17.0 points per game, Ivica Zubac’s 9.9 rebounds, and Terance Mann’s 2.3 assists.

The Phoenix Suns are Finally Healthy

Phoenix sat their stars in the final two games of the regular season, so they enter on a two-game losing streak, but no injuries to worry about. The Suns lost to the two Los Angeles teams to end the season and will not go right back to playing the Clippers in this best of seven series.

These two teams split the regular season series, but there is not much to take away from it as neither team had their full rosters for any of the games.

DeAndre Ayton leads the Suns with 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Chris Paul has dished out a team high 8.9 assists per game this season.