The LA Clippers blew a 23-point lead last night in a 119-117 loss to the Phoenix Suns, as center Ivica Zubac’s would-be game-tying tip layup rattled out as the clock expired. The Clippers have now lost six of their seven games since the All-Star break, and their fortunes aren’t likely to improve tonight against the red-hot Detroit Pistons at 10:30 p.m. ET.
LA will be without Norman Powell, whose quest to pip the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham to the Most Improved Player award will officially end when he misses Friday’s game against the New York Knicks. Arguably the more damning loss is that of Kawhi Leonard — Fun Guy will rest during the second night of the back-to-back, as is customary.
The Clippers desperately need a win, having fallen back to ninth in the Western Conference and in danger of falling to 10th if the Kyrie, AD, Luka, and Lively-less Dallas Mavericks happen to stun the Milwaukee Bucks. It’ll be tough against a Pistons team that is 9-1 in its last 10 games with the league’s second-best net rating across that span.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, LA is a 4.5-point underdog and the point total is set to 220. Below, I’ve outlined my favorite props centered around the man I — and probably nobody else — refer to as Jim Harden.
Best James Harden Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
James Harden U24.5 Points (-110)
Harden has played two games without Leonard and Powell since the All-Star break, and while his usage did increase substantially in those two games — 33.1%, an increase from the 28.7% he has posted in the four games since Leonard returned from his foot injury — he scored 25 or more points in just one of them. In the game that he didn’t, it was a loss to Detroit, in which the Pistons held him to just five-for-22 accuracy from the field and a three-for-11 mark from downtown. Detroit was especially excellent against him as a driver; he converted on just three of his 15 drives that game.
In their last 10 games, the Pistons have had the league’s best defensive rating, allowing just 105.3 points per 100 possessions even with a 143-point outburst by the Atlanta Hawks and a 134-point game by the Denver Nuggets factored in. In that span, Detroit has held an opponent under 100 points on four separate occasions. The Pistons also have a rest advantage and a health advantage, although veteran forward Tobias Harris will miss his second straight game for personal reasons. With his absence on Monday, Ausar Thompson played more than 30 minutes for the first time this season and is a better defender than Harris.
Plus, Tyronn Lue is an excellent situational coach and likes to take advantage of mismatches. Besides Harden and Zubac, there are few reliable offensive options with Leonard and Powell out. Entering last night’s game, the Suns had gotten killed by opposing centers because of their lack of size, and it’s not a coincidence that Zubac posted a team-high 28.6% usage rate in a career-high 35-point effort. Detroit has been far worse against opposing bigs than opposing point guards, even during its hot streak, so I expect Zubac to garner enough touches to hold Harden under 25 points.
James Harden O1.5 Steals (-115)
With great responsibility comes great turnover potential, and Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham is second in the league in usage among players who have appeared in at least 50 games. Harden and Cunningham rank second and third in the NBA, respectively, in turnovers per game. These two ball-dominant point guards have incredible flashes and dumbfounding gaffes. Cunningham even had a dubious stretch of two consecutive 10-turnover games, the only player in NBA history with that distinct dishonor.
Plus, while Harden has a reputation as a lackadaisical-at-best defender, this season has marked his highest steal rate since his 2019-20 campaign with the Houston Rockets. The fact that he has been more defensively engaged is a major reason why the Clippers have the league’s third-ranked defense overall this season despite starting Harden and Powell in the backcourt. He has recorded two or more steals four times since the All-Star break, including in each of his last three games.
