The Phoenix Suns are pretty fresh, to say the least, as they come into the NBA's Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Clippers. But they are not at their healthiest.

While the Clippers have demonstrated that they can win without Kawhi Leonard, which they did twice in a row to put away the Utah Jazz in the previous round, the Suns are going to have to play without Chris Paul for at least one game in the series.

Game 1 of this series begins at 3:35 PM ET at the Phoenix Suns Arena, and BetOnline has all the props you could ever dream of ready to wager on, as well as Odds Boosters, which offer enhanced payouts on pre-selected parlays every day.

Phoenix not only won the last three games of its first series against the Lakers, they swept the Denver Nuggets in four straight. On this seven-game winning streak, they have outscored their opponents by 16.3 points per game.

The Clippers made a huge comeback in Game 6 against Utah, as they were down by 25 points. They did this without the services of Leonard, who is the second-leading scorer in the NBA playoffs and was the NBA Finals MVP two seasons ago, not to mention once when he was with San Antonio.

In the NBA playoff betting odds at BetOnline, the Suns are the favorites at home:

Phoenix Suns -4 (-107)
Los Angeles Clippers +4 (-113)

Over 221.5 points -110
Under 221.5 points -110

Also, the Suns are -195 favorites to win the series, with the Clippers at +170.

Paul, known affectionately as "CP3," scored 37 points in the clinching Game 4 against Denver. In these playoffs he has been a rare "50/40/90" performer, as he has shot 51% from the field, 44% from three-point range and 91% from the line.

Remember also that throughout his career, Paul has been a defensive stalwart, in addition to being the team's floor leader. So there is naturally a huge void left by his absence, which comes by way of a positive COVID test. An Associated Press report quoted an anonymous source as saying that he had previously been vaccinated, which may speed up the process of him getting out of the protocol and back into the lineup.

The Suns will need some creativity at the point guard spot, but they look forward to creating some defensive puzzles for Paul George and others on the L.A. side with Devin Booker, who is reportedly upset at being left off the first or second All-NBA team.

If we operate under the assumption that Paul is an essential part of the Suns' defensive setup, this is an opening for the Clippers. While Phoenix's Defensive Rating is the second best of the NBA playoff teams, the Clippers have had an Offensive Rating of 133.7 over their last four games - two of which had to be played without Kawhi - and that is positively insane.

They have been the NBA's highest percentage team from beyond the arc this season, and thus can play more on the perimeter than Phoenix's previous opponents - the Lakers and Nuggets - who were anchored by great pivot men.

And you saw how the Clippers took advantage of the absence of Utah's point guard (Mike Conley) in the previous set.

Yes, they may be a bit fatigue, but they are in form. And if Phoenix was a bit rusty, we wouldn't be surprised. We'd recommend taking the points here, and particularly in the first quarter, where L.A. is getting a point and a half.

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