NBA: Boston Celtics vs. Sacramento Kings Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics have no time to rest following a win over the Golden State Warriors, as they travel to Sacramento to meet the Kings. This will be a very pleasant match for watching, between two sides who have young guys in leading roles. Though, the Celtics’ duo Tatum-Brown has more success up until this point than the Kings’ “kids,” who are yet to reach the playoffs. We really hope forward to seeing this game, because both the C’s and the Kings play attractive, and usually the contests involving these two sides bring lots of top 10 plays.

Preview

Boston Celtics (11-8, -162) defeated the Golden State Warriors last night, and after two losses in a row, want to start a new stretch of positive results. The game at Chase Center was very intense, and C’s had to defend the lead in the last few minutes, with Steph Curry going wild, and dropping 38 buckets.

Jaylen Brown scored 27 points with nine rebounds, Kemba Walker had 19, but with only 6 made field goals in 18 shots. He again had more rebounds than assists, 7 to 5. Jaylen Brown also had a poor shooting night, 8-for-20 but managed to score 18 buckets and complete a double-double with 10 boards.

C’s outrebounded the Warriors, 62-42, but had almost twice as few assists, 16-30. Marcus Smart’s absence is felt all over the place, with the versatile guard being the glue of the unit, and also the top defensive guy.

Sacramento Kings (9-11, +135) have four wins in the past five matches and are on the rampage. That single loss came against the Heat in Miami, 105-104, and to be honest, it could have gone either way. Both sides deserved to win.

We need to say that the Kings are coming back home following a four-game tour through the country (mostly Florida), and that they scored at least 118 points in three wins during this stretch. The latest one was in New Orleans against the Pelicans, 118-109.

De’Aaron Fox had his show in the last seven minutes of the event, dropping 17 of his 38 points, and completely destroying the hosts, who didn’t have any idea on how to stop the dynamic guard. He single-handedly erased a double-digit deficit and pushed the Kings towards another win. So far this year, Fox averages 22.1 points, 6.4 dimes, with 47% shooting from the field.

Head to Head Matches

Last year, the Kings and the Celtics used the home-court advantage, posting one win each. The result in Sacramento was 100-99, a narrow win for the hosts, while the Celtics also won by one point once welcoming the Kings, 103-102.

Prediction

As said before, this will be an amusing match with lots of tempo and energy. Kings are back home following a solid tour, while on the other side, the C’s are just beginning their road trip, which includes stops in LA, Phoenix, and Utah. We wouldn’t’ recommend betting on the winner here, but on total points. The line is at 226.5, and it is going up since the opening, which clearly suggests that we should follow the same. Dynamic teams like these two know how to score points in waves, which is why we pick over.

Pick: Over 226.5