The Denver Gazette

Picking the underdogs to cover in NBA action Sunday

BY JOE METZ FTNBets.com

We have another two-game slate in the NBA Playoffs on Sunday. Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Suns and Clippers tips off at 1:30 p.m. followed by Game 7 of the series between the Hawks and the Sixers at 6:30 p.m.

As always, my top two bets to target are listed below, with odds from FanDuel Sportsbook.

Clippers at Suns

The pick: Clippers +5 (-110) While the Suns have been rolling through two rounds, the loss of Chris Paul could prove to be a fatal blow to this team that, outside of Paul, really lacks a significant amount of playoff experience.

The absence of Kawhi Leonard is still a massive blow for the Clippers, but they haven’t skipped a beat after beating the Jazz in back-to-back games without their star.

With the emergence of Terance Mann in the starting lineup, the Clippers replace Leonard with another capable wing defender who can help guard Devin Booker, and while I don’t fully trust them to win this game, I think the spread should be a bit tighter, leaving me favoring the Clippers with the points.

Hawks at 76ers

The pick: Hawks +7.5 (-112) Even though the Sixers stole Game 6 in Atlanta and were able to pull away in the fourth quarter, they’ve shown zero reasons over the last four games to trust them with such a large spread.

While they won the first two games by 16 points each, they went on to blow massive second-half leads in Games 3 and 4 while duking out a tight game for the majority of Game 6.

The Hawks have also proven to be a much more capable opponent than many assumed.

Trae Young has averaged 30.3 points and 11.0 assists, creating an entire offensive attack that the Sixers have struggled to stop.

Even if the Hawks don’t pull this game off, getting them with 7.5 points seems like an awesome value.

SPORTS ODDS

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2021-06-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

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The Gazette, Colorado Springs