NBA: Miami Heat vs. Sacramento Kings Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Miami Heat travel to Sacramento to meet the Kings on Sunday night. This will be their second game on tour through the West, which will tell us is Miami in good shape or not. So far, Erik Spoelstra’s unit was looking solid, despite all the problems with absent players. Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings are nowhere near the projections before the season. Fox and the boys sit far, far away from the playoff zone. It appears that this season isn’t going to be any different than the previous ones, which means that the Kings won’t reach the playoffs.

Preview

Miami Heat (23-13, -140) has eight wins and two losses in the recent 10 games, which is a very good record. Overall, the Heat plays well throughout the entire season, and we need to mention that this unit had several big issues during the campaign, with players being in health and safety protocols and stuff.

Their latest contest was in Houston against the Rockets, and the Heat won that, 120-110. Jimmy B and the boys immediately imposed their tempo of play, winning the first period 41-30, just keeping the distance between them and the hosts afterward.

Butler dropped 37 points, 12-for-21 FG, and 11-for-11 from the foul line. Kyle Guy was solid off the bench with 17 points, while Herro added 16 as a starter with nine assists and six rebounds. He was shooting threes very badly, 1-for-6. Omer Yurtseven had a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.

Sacramento Kings (15-23, +125) played the last five games at home, winning only two and losing three. Overall, the franchise from California spent most of the recent time in Sacramento, and they are soon to hit the road for long tours. The negative thing for them is the fact that they didn’t utilize the home-court advantage, but posted mediocre results.

After back-to-back wins vs. OKC and the Mavs, they lost to Dallas in their second straight event, 112-96. Sacramento allowed the guests to shoot 51.9% from the field, and to have 47 boards, 13 more than them, and these two factors were the main reasons for the defeat.

Even though they had seven players with 10 or more points, the Kings’ attack was weak, because the top scorer, Haliburton, had 17 buckets. Marvin Bagley added 15, while Richaun Holmes and Harrison Barnes had 11 each. Fox ended the night with 10 buckets.

Head to Head Games

This is the first meeting in the 2021/22 season between these two teams. Last year we saw the Heat winning both contests, 105-104 in Sacramento and 118-110 at home in Miami.

Prediction

The Heat plays really well on both ends of the floor. We’ve seen them overcoming some pretty difficult situations and ending up on the winning side. They lack Adebayo under the rim, but against the Kings, the strong center won’t be that necessary. Butler, Hero, Lowry, and the boys are just enough for the guests to post an easy victory over one of the most disappointing units in the NBA. We’ve waited for them to evolve and become a respectable force in the conference, but in the end, it seems that this team will need major reparations at the end of the season.

Pick: Heat wins