The Sacramento Kings take on the Los Angeles Lakers in LA! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Kings-Lakers prediction and pick.
The Kings and Lakers had different results in their last outings. The Kings fell to the Chicago Bulls in a total collapse at the Golden 1 Center on Monday night. The Bulls were down 14 heading into the fourth quarter and scored 36 points and held the Kings to just 18 on their way to a 113-109 win. Coby White is turning into a star for the Bulls as scored 37 points on 14-19 shooting in the win. Sacramento is now 34-26 on the year which places them 7th in the Western Conference. They are a half-game behind the Phoenix Suns for 6th and only a half-game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for 8th. The West will be a gauntlet for the rest of the season.
The Lakers played one of their better games of the season in the win against the Thunder last time out, 116-104. D'Angelo Russell led the way with 26 points and the Lakers held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to just 20 points on 5-13 shooting. There was a moment in the game where D-Lo hit three straight triples as the fans and team went crazy. The Lakers are 1.5 games behind the Kings currently in the 9th spot in the West with a 34-29 record. If LA goes on a run here then they could play themselves out of the Play-In Tournament which is very possible. The Suns are two games ahead and anything can happen as the end of the season looms.
Here are the NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Kings-Lakers Odds
Sacramento Kings: +2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +120
Los Angeles Lakers: -2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -142
Over: 238.5 (-110)
Under: 238.5 (-110)
How to Watch Kings vs. Lakers
Time: 10:30 ET/7:30 PT
TV: Spectrum SportsNet LA, NBC Sports Sacramento
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Kings Could Cover The Spread/Win
The Kings will certainly bring the energy right away as they will want to quickly move forward from the ugly fourth quarter against the Bulls. The Kings are a much better team than Chicago and that result shouldn't happen. Domantas Sabonis fouled out of the game and that hurt the Kings late. He continues to be a rebounding machine leading the league at 13.4 per game. Sabonis is also averaging a career-high 8.4 assists and he is not nearly talked about as one of the top well-rounded players in the game. If he scored a little more often, he would be putting up MVP-type numbers as he is just 1.6 assists per game away from averaging a triple-double.
Malik Monk is the FanDuel favorite to win the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award. He is a huge favorite and likely will win the award due to his elite scoring ability off the bench. Monk plays starters' minutes but is more valuable to the Kings later in games. He scored just 11 against the Bulls but in the game prior against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he scored 39 points in the 4-point win on the road. De'Aaron Fox missed that game which allowed Monk to take over. As a former Laker, Monk should play well against his former team.
The Kings are 8th in the NBA in scoring at 118.1 per game and 11th in FG% at 48.3%. Sac-Town is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the NBA as they average 14.6 made threes per game shooting 37%. On the other end, Sacramento allows 117.8 points per game which is 22nd in the NBA. Opposing teams shoot close to 50% against the Kings at 48.9%, 23rd in the league.
Why The Lakers Could Cover The Spread/Win
The Lakers are close favorites for this home contest against a good Kings squad. They continue to deal with injuries as some key guys remain out, but if this team can regain their strength by the playoffs then they could make another run. Christian Wood, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Gabe Vincent remain out for LA. The Kings should be at full strength. The good news for LA is that all three of Wood, Vanderbilt, and Vincent are on track to return sooner rather than later.
The Lakers have a deep squad. At times, it may seem that they can't get in rhythm and it results in losses to opponents they shouldn't lose to. However, the veteran talent they have on the squad will help them in the postseason. Vincent has made deep runs with Miami the last few seasons in the East, and Wood is a prolific scorer from the forward position when healthy. Vanderbilt is one of the top defenders in the NBA, so they need those pieces back. Rui Hachimura, Taurean Prince, and now Spencer Dinwiddie are doing a solid job of contributing. All those guys I mentioned are not in the top four in scoring on the team. Yet, they help LeBron James and Anthony Davis succeed by playing their role.
The Lakers are 12th in the NBA in scoring at 117.1 per game. LA is third in the NBA in FG% shooting 49.7% from the floor. The Lakers are 28th in the NBA in three-pointers made per game at just 11.5. LA will need to shoot the ball better from deep if they want to defeat the Kings. LA is averaging 122.8 points per game over their last 10 games.
Final Kings-Lakers Prediction & Pick
I like the Lakers to just barely sneak by the Kings in this game. Take ML instead of spread as the value isn't far off. Even though Sacramento is 2-0 against LA this season, the Kings are just 5-5 in their last 10 games while the Lakers are 7-3. It should be a close and high-scoring contest. The Over at 238.5 is a good number to take with both teams able to score. If both teams score a little more than their average then the Over will hit.
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Final Kings-Lakers Prediction & Pick: Los Angeles Lakers ML (-142), Over 238.5 (-110)
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