Vegas Line at this writing: New Orleans -7 (205.5)
Tonight we feature a matchup in the NBA West featuring a team with a new coach playing spoiler down the stretch versus a team about to flatline in its chase to grab the eighth and final playoff spot. The Sacramento Kings have won four straight, covering three and coming off a nice nine point road win at Phoenix in their last.
It’s hard to say if the team has bought in to new head coach George Karl just yet but with continued strong play in the final ten games, Sacramento may have something to build on heading into next season. The New Orleans Pelicans sit tenth in the NBA West, 3.5 games back of OKC for the eighth and final playoff spot and still must leapfrog Phoenix which three back in ninth. The Pelicans picked a bad time to go on a four game skid but there maybe much they could have done about it with road losses at Golden State and the Clippers and a two-point home loss to Houston in its last. Maybe New Orleans is in fact a year away.
The teams have met twice this year but not since November, each team winning on the other home court. The Kings are 3-2 SU and ATS in their L5 visits but are just 9-18 straight up here over time, The Over is 4-1 in the L5 games here and 7-2 Overall in the L9 games of the series. Sacramento is on a 3-1 Under run after seeing the Over go 11-1 in their prior twelve. The Over is 6-3 in the Pelicans l9 overall but the Under is 4-1 in the team’s L5 home games.
Sacramento:
With point guard Darren Collison (16.1, 2.3, 5.6) out for the last month after abdominal surgery, the Kings have pretty much been a two man operation with DeMarcus Cousins (23.8, 12.3) and Rudy Gay (20.9, 5.6, 3.9) doing most of the heavy lifting. Ben McLemore is proving to be a serviceable guard after a terrible rookie campaign Omri Caspi has made the most of his recent extended minutes with some excellent play and the Kings have a nice bench with veterans Andre Miller, Derrick Williams, Reggie Evans and Jason Thompson all able to step in and play.
New Orleans:
The Pelicans have battles injuries all year, maybe not to the same extent as Oklahoma City but close, so it has been difficult to have an continuity with the lineup. Anthony Davis (24.6, 10.5, 2.0) would definitely be in the MVP mix had injuries not held him to just 57 games. The oft-hurt big is on the injury report but listed as probable with a sore shoulder that he hurt in early March. Tyreke Evans (16.7, 5.3, 6.4) has been about the only constant in the Pelican lineup. Guard Eric Gordan (13.3) can play when he is right. Omer Asik (7.9, 10.0) plays hard in the middle and does the dirty work in the pain and on the glass without needing a lot of touches on offense.
Allen’s Angles
Sacramento is 4-9 ATS off a straight up win as an underdog
The Kings 5-0 as a road dog of 6-9 points
The Under is 9-5 in Sacramento games vs. the Southwest Division
The Over is 16-8 after the kings score 105+ points
New Orleans is 11-5 ATS off a straight up loss as a favorite
The Pelicans are 7-3 ATS avenging a home loss by the opponent
New Orleans is 19-11 to the Over vs. losing records (67-31 over time)
The Over is 8-5 in Pelican games vs. Pacific Division opponents