A Western Conference battle will be underway on this Monday night as the Sacramento Kings travel to Houston to do battle with the Rockets. It is about that time to check out our NBA odds series where our Kings-Rockets prediction and pick will be made.

The Sacramento Kings certainly took the right steps into becoming a contender a year ago. However, the Kings are off to a slower than expected start to the new season as they are a combined 2-3 through the first handful of games to begin the campaign. With back-to-back frustrating losses in a row, do the Kings have what it takes to get back on track?

Meanwhile, the youthful Rockets ae trying to show any ounce of improvement from last year's extremely lousy 22-60 record. Despite being in the midst of a rebuild, this is an intriguing squad to say the least! All in all, it's Houston who is coming off a 107-89 beatdown of Sacramento on Saturday. The Rockets' confidence level will be through the roof if they can put together another showing like that against the Kings on Monday.

Here are the NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NBA Odds: Kings-Rockets Odds

Sacramento Kings: -2 (-110)

Houston Rockets: +2 (-110)

Over: 218.5 (-110)

Under: 218.5 (-110)

How to Watch Kings vs. Rockets

Time: 8:00 ET/5:00 PT

TV: Space City Home Network/NBA League Pass

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Kings Could Cover The Spread

Simply put, Saturday's massive letdown against the Rockets was disheartening to say the least. Regardless, the Kings possess a roster that is electrifying on the offensive end of the floor. However, their defensive efforts have left much to be desired, and a complete effort out on the hardwood has yet to be seen this season.

Concerningly enough, the one statistic that is raising eyebrows in the wrong fashion has obviously been the defense. A year ago, this did happen to be a unit that had more holes in it than Swiss cheese, but these issues were overlooked due to how high-powered this offense was night in and night out. Now, with struggles coming offensively, these issues defensively are even more glaring.

Regardless, keep in mind that the season is still extremely fresh, and there is much basketball to be played. Plus, it is often very difficult to win when your best player is unavailable. Star point guard De'Aaron Fox, the wind beneath Sacramento's wings, missed Saturday's contest due to a bum ankle and is expected to be held out of the starting lineup yet again this evening, meaning they'll need to figure out how to operate this offense without their floor general available. There is plenty of talent to go around on this roster, but many names will need to step up if the Kings are going to avoid losing a third consecutive game.

All in all, don't be surprised if the Kings look for higher percentage shots tonight. Most likely, Sacramento won't shoot as poorly as they did over the weekend, and if they can get off to a fast start on the road in a hostile environment, then the chances of them covering the spread will only increase exponentially.

Why The Rockets Could Cover The Spread

Out of all of the unlikely heroes to inflict a lethal amount of damage over the weekend, few saw forward Dillon Brooks packing such a punch on the offensive end of the floor. A year ago, Brooks put together a solid defensive campaign despite undergoing mass scrutiny, but it proved to be the 27-year-old that led all scorers on Saturday with 26 points on an extremely efficient 9/14 shooting. While Houston has many scorers that can fill up the box score later tonight, a repeated outing from Brooks could be just what the doctor ordered en route to covering the spread in front of their home fans.

Of course, another big aspect of this ballgame that Houston would love to take advantage of will be a much-improved three-point shooting effort. Believe it or not, the Rockets rank near the top-half of the NBA in shooting beyond the arc. Overall, Houston is connecting on roughly 13 threes per contest, and if they can find a way to get hot from downtown early, then they may be able to hold their own versus a high-scoring Sacramento squad.

With that being said, another solid defensive effort from the Rockets will be needed. Last time out, Houston remarkably held Sacramento to 38% shooting from the floor as a whole and only a 26.8 clip from deep. Obviously, it is unrealistic to expect that the Kings will shoot that poorly again, but if the Rockets can force Sac-Town to heave up contested shots late in the shot clock, then the Rockets will undeniably find success.

Final Kings-Rockets Prediction & Pick

Although they enter this contest as two-point favorites, the unavailable De'Aaron Fox will prove to hurt the Kings in more ways than one. After discovering the perfect blueprint to combat Sacramento on Saturday, expect the Rockets to once again take advantage of the shorthanded Kings.

Final Kings-Rockets Prediction & Pick: Rockets +2 (-110)