DeAndre Jordan (C, Los Angeles Clippers)
DeAndre Jordan and Clippers are currently the team with the best form in the league, which is a surprise after a 6 game losing streak in the end of December. Now they are showing a completely different picture. DeAndre Jordan has stepped up on many occasions this season and is currently averaging 12.1ppg, 13.8trb and 0.9ast. However, looking at his last 5 games, he is performing better compared to the rest of the season. In those 5 games, he averaged 15.8ppg, 17.6trb and 0.6ast. So there is no doubt his form is improving. Prior to tonight’s match, Clippers played Los Angeles Lakers and won (113:97). DeAndre was named the best scorer of the match with season high 24 points to his name. In addition to that he accumulated 21 rebounds. As I mentioned before DeAndre Jordan is improving and from the looks of it he will not stop anytime soon. The next team Clippers will face is Oklahoma City Thunder, who will go into the game as a underdog against hot Clippers. DeAndre Jordan and his team can be really happy with their performances and will surely want to continue in this fashion. As for DeAndre Jordan, we can expect him to score over 13 points, as he has proven in the recent matches that he is more than capable to finish in double digits.
Prediction: DeAndre Jordan Over 13 points
Gordon Hayward (SF, Utah Jazz)
Gordon Hayward is averaging 22.1ppg, 5.8trb and 3.6ast this season, which is quite an improvement compared to his career average of 15.2ppg, 4.1trb and 3.6ast. His respectable record is deserved, as he has been consistently scoring around 20 points throughout most of the season. In his recent match, against Orlando, Gordon scored 23 points with 70%FG accuracy, which is quite good to be fair. It is hard to say Hayward is in form, solely due to the fact that he is consistent with his performances and that is a good quality every coach wants in his players. If he faces a poor defensive team he will most likely rack up a lot of points and that just might be the case tonight, when Jazz face against Suns. Suns are not really known to be a good defensive team. In fact they are ranked 5nd worst in the league when it comes to defensive efficiency, just above Brooklyn. Looking back at the day Jazz played Brooklyn, Hayward walked off the court with 30 points. If that tells us anything it is that we can expect a similar result today. Expect Hayward to score at least his career average against Suns, who have proven time and time again they do not know how to defend the basket well.
Prediction: Gordon Hayward Over 22 points
Tyson Chandler (C/PF, Phoenix Suns)
For the last player prediction, we will return to the Phoenix v Utah match, only now we will focus on Tyson Chandler. Chandler is averaging 7.8ppg, 12.1trb and 0.6ast this season. His FG% (67.1%)is higher compared to his career average (59.3%) so it’s clear he has been practising shooting, but on the other side Chandler’s ppg average (7.8ppg) seems to be a bit lower compared to career average (8.7ppg). The deficit is almost nonexistent, I just wanted to throw that info out there. Now looking at past 5 games and Chandler’s performance, it’s been an up and down road. Against Miami he scored 5 points, against Dallas 3 points, but then he managed to score 10 and 14 points against Cleveland and Dallas, with his recent match against SA Spurs ending with 8 points. When I talked about Hayward and his consistency, here we have exact opposite example. This trend was not only seen in the past 5 games but has been happening throughout the season.
The reason for that is unknown to me, but I am sure of one thing. Tyson Chandler will not get easy points against Utah tonight. Why? Well Utah Jazz are currently ranked as the best defensive team in the league, letting opponents score on average 94.8 points. In the paint, where Chandler gets most of his points, Utah does hold a solid record, letting only an average of 40.5 points come that part of the court. With that in mind, I do not expect Chandler reaching his career average of 8 points tonight.
Prediction: Tyson Chandler Under 8 points
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