Basketball / Andy Morris / 22 February 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

The LA Clippers have little to play for now except entertaining their home fans, and they can do so again by beating the Bobcats, writes Andy Morris.

...if this game were in Charlotte, then you wouldn’t give the Clippers a prayer

The LA Clippers are 11 games below .500, thanks largely to their abysmal form on the road where they are 7-21 (and for some reason particularly weak against Western Conference teams, against whom they are 3-15).

However, at the Staples Center, they are three games over .500, and a reasonable 7-4 against Eastern conference teams.

Since 27 January, they have only won two of 11 games, but will go into this one in reasonable form after a 99-89 victory over Sacramento on Saturday.

Eric Gordon scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to give interim coach Kim Hughes his first W. Chris Kaman had 22 points and 16 rebounds, while newly acquired Steve Blake added 11 points and 12 assists for the Clippers.

They still have major problems, not least of which is the alarming number of turnovers-24 against the Kings, which were converted into 30 points, and for the last three games have had 20 or more turnovers.

Another plus for the Clippers is that Drew Gooden, acquired on Thursday from the Wizards, will make his debut for his new team against Charlotte.

The fact that the Bobcats are still well in the playoff mix in the Eastern Conference should also mean that they start warm favourites, so anyone backing the Clippers can expect odds of around 2.2-2.3.

There's plenty of reasons to be worried about backing Los Angeles, of course, not least their recent results against Charlotte.

The Bobcats have won the last four meetings between the teams, including two at the Staples Center, though the all-time record is 6-4 in favour of the Clippers.

The Bobcats are hoping to make the playoffs for the first time, and if this game were in Charlotte then you wouldn't give the Clippers a prayer.

And yet, Charlotte are poor travellers. They are just 7-20 on the road, and only five teams have fewer road wins this season.

They lost their last game on Saturday in Milwaukee, going down 93-88. They gave a good account of themselves on their last visit to this court when losing by two points at the Lakers on February 3, but they are only 4-6 at Western Conference teams this year.

This is one where you'll have to cross your fingers that the combination of a strong home record by the Clippers and poor road form by the Bobcats equates to a Los Angeles win.

It could all go wrong and leave us out of pocket, but the signs are there that there's some money to be made backing the underdog here.