The Western Conference race is going to be a tight battle down the stretch of the NBA season with 12 teams worthy of playing after the regular season. The coveted spots in the top six are what the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns have their eyes on as they aim to bypass the play-in round.

The Clippers currently stand sixth, and the Suns are eighth as the two teams battle in Phoenix on Monday night. The Suns beat the Clippers twice in October, and another win would give Phoenix the tiebreaker edge.

Connor McDavid is slated to be back on the ice for the Edmonton Oilers after a three-game suspension for cross-checking. Hopefully, McDavid will decide to just use that stick for clobbering pucks this time around.

Iowa State-Arizona isn’t usually a January showdown, but it is now with both teams in the Big 12. We will look at that game as well the NBA game mentioned above and the Oilers’ game against the Seattle Kraken. 

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS AT PHOENIX SUNS

Phoenix has won seven of its last nine games, and Los Angeles has victories in six of its last eight contests. It helps that Kawhi Leonard’s knee has calmed down and his availability has made the Clippers extra potent.

James Harden (40 points, nine assists) and Norman Powell (33) were the mainstays in Los Angeles’ 127-117 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. Leonard (18 points) played just 24 minutes and he will again be limited on Monday.

Kevin Durant has 20 or more points in 21 straight appearances, and that includes a 29-point effort in Saturday’s 119-109 home win over the Washington Wizards. The 36-year-old continues to play like 26 during his 17th NBA campaign.

Demoted big man Jusuf Nurkic hasn’t played since Jan. 7 and he ripped coach Mike Budenholzer on Saturday. Bad news for Nurk—Nick Richards, the guy they acquired to replace him, had 20 points and a career-best 19 boards against the Wizards.

Clippers -1, -110 (DraftKings)

IOWA STATE CYCLONES AT ARIZONA WILDCATS

The two squads are tied for second place in the Big 12 as they meet in Tucson. The Wildcats are a stellar 9-1 at home while Iowa State is 4-1 in true road games.

Arizona has won nine of its past 10 games, with six of the victories coming by double digits. Right when it looked like Caleb Love had broken out of his funk with a 27-point outing against Oklahoma State, his stroke was missing again by going 3 of 14 for 10 points in Saturday’s 78-63 victory over hapless Colorado.

The Cyclones have won back-to-back outings since losing at West Virginia, which is their lone setback in the past 15 games. Curtis Jones, who averaged 2.5 points as a reserve for Buffalo three seasons ago, had a career-best 33 points in Saturday’s 76-61 road victory over Arizona State and has an 18.6 scoring average.

This is a statement road game for Iowa State. But it feels like Arizona can stave off the Cyclones.

Arizona +1, -118 (DraftKings)

SEATTLE KRAKEN AT EDMONTON OILERS

It certainly made sense that McDavid was frustrated over being held down on the ice by Vancouver’s Conor Garland as time ticked off the clock late in a Jan. 18 loss to the Canucks. But that aggressive form of retaliation where he crosschecks Garland in the head merited the suspension.

Regardless, McDavid (20 goals, 45 assists) should have fresh legs against the Kraken, so it will be no surprise if he has a multi-point game. The Oilers went 2-1 without McDavid and have won 10 of their past 13 games despite scoring more than four goals just twice during the span.

Seattle won three of four games on a homestand and takes a trip to Edmonton before returning home for five more games in a row. The Kraken scored the game’s final three goals in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

Leading scorer Jared McCain (38 points) had two assists against Pittsburgh and has five points (one goal, four assists) over the past three games. But can Seattle slow McDavid?

Connor McDavid to score a goal, +150 (DraftKings)