As is typical, the LA double is on — the LA Clippers have the chance to match what the Los Angeles Lakers did last night and top the New York Knicks when they visit Intuit Dome for a 10:30 p.m. ET clash. It’ll be a tough task for a Clippers team that desperately needs Norman Powell, whose Most Improved Player quest will officially end when he misses tonight’s game with a hamstring injury.
LA’s checklist before what looks increasingly likely to be a Play-In game is clear: get Powell back to full health, hope for no more injuries, and make sure that Kawhi Leonard is at his best. Leonard is the team’s best player when healthy and on-form, although this season, he’s averaging a more modest 18.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game on the third-worst efficiency of his career. Despite his up-and-down production, he Clippers are blitzing opponents by 9.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the court.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, LA is a 7.5-point underdog and the point total is set to 217.5. Below, I’ve outlined my favorite props centered around Fun Guy.
Best Kawhi Leonard Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Kawhi Leonard 25+ Points (+130)
Since the All-Star break, Leonard has been back to his full load, averaging 35.9 minutes per game in his five appearances, the 19th-most in the league across that span. He’s been nearly at his two-way best, notching 23.4 points and 1.8 steals per game while draining more than 40% from beyond the three-point line, and if the Clippers have any chance of pulling off a first-round upset, they’ll need Leonard to continue his current form. He’s scored more than 25 points twice during the stretch, including a season-high 33 against the team’s cross-town rivals.
Meanwhile, the Knicks have been struggling mightily on defense in recent weeks and just took a huge blow last night when their talisman, Jalen Brunson, went down with a serious-looking ankle injury and will almost certainly miss tonight’s game, although New York has not yet released its injury report. Brunson isn’t an elite defender, but the Knicks suffer with depth and will almost certainly be worse on both sides of the ball without him. Since the start of February, New York has had the league’s sixth-worst defensive rating even with remarkable health from all of its core pieces. In theory, the Knicks’ bevy of big wings are built to slow down a player like Leonard, but if he’s at his best, I’m not sure anyone can.
Kawhi Leonard O5.5 Rebounds (-120)
Up until the All-Star break, the Knicks had allowed the fewest rebounds per game of any team in the league, led by Karl-Anthony Towns — who averages 13.4 per contest, the second-most in the league — and Josh Hart, who’s easily the best rebounder in the league among guards. But since then, New York has conceded the sixth-most. Even with Towns and Hart each missing two games, it’s a bit of an inexplicable decline. The eight-game sample size is big enough that I’m willing to recognize it as a legitimate concern, and Leonard, who earned the nickname Board Man for a reason, is primed to take advantage.
This season, Leonard has spent more of his time operating away from the basket, as his 31.9% three-point attempt rate is the highest of his career, which has limited his rebounding upside. In fact, this season, he’s recording the lowest rebounding percentage of his career, partially out of caution for his surgically-repaired knee. But he’s started to show some flashes recently, grabbing his first 10-board game of the season against the Lakers, who have been the league’s second-best rebounding team since January 15, when their current 20-4 run began. Since the All-Star break, Leonard has recorded exactly 6.0 boards per game.
