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

The Sacramento Kings continue their tour through the East with a stop in Boston, where they meet the Celtics on Friday night. Luke Walton’s side posted a first win since the start of the trip two nights ago in Washington. On the other side, the Celtics are not good at the moment, with two straight losses, three in the past four games. For the Cs, this is an extremely important game, as they need to rebound following those nasty losses and use this two-game short homestand to boost their morale ahead of much tougher challenges on the road.

Preview

Sacramento Kings (16-24, +270) are giving some signals of life, even though they aren’t winning too often. Their triumph in DC against the Wizards, 121-119, was surprising, to be honest, and just a few expected the same.

The Kings’ entire starting lineup was playing solid, with De’Aaron Fox leading the way and scoring 28 points with seven assists and five steals. He would hit a dagger that sealed the game with 0.7 seconds to go. Richaun Holmes and Harrison Barnes scored 18 each, Tyrese Haliburton added 17, and Buddy Hield 16 buckets.

The one thing Sacramento needs to improve is defending the paint and the rim. Washington, who is a mediocre team, dropped 74 points from the paint, which is just too much. If they didn’t have a lousy three-point percentage 4-for-25, this event would most definitely end in their favor. Have no doubt about that.

Boston Celtics (20-20, -350) lost in Brooklyn and then won in Houston before losing at home to Utah and on the road in Cleveland. The latest game, against the Cavaliers, 117-110, saw them appearing without Kemba Walker, but that simply can’t be an alibi for a terrible performance of Brad Stevens’ boys.

Tatum and Brown did their part of the job, as usual, scoring 29 and 28 points, respectively, and Marcus Smart added 19. Yet the rest of the team was totally absent in this match on both ends of the floor.

Cleveland was shooting 54.1% from the floor, and 43.5% from downtown. Meanwhile, the Cs were 26.3% for three, which might be one of the reasons for their loss. The oscillations in their performances are way too big, which is why there isn’t any surprise to see them wandering around .500.

Head to Head Games

The first game of the year saw the Kings defeating the Celtics, 116-111, who were crippled with injuries back then. Tatum had 27 points, 10 assists, and nine boards, while Browns scored 21 for the guests. Fox was the top scorer among the hosts, 26 points with 11 assists. Harrison Barnes had 24, while Haliburton added 21, shooting 5-for-9 from downtown.

Prediction

The limit for the total number of points is 235, and we sense that Stevens might tighten up the situation in his team and increase the effort on the defensive side of the ball. Because of that our suggestion is to go with under here. Boston’s crisis can’t last forever, which is why we believe that they are going to bounce back in Friday’s game and that one of the main weapons will be the defense and restraining the Kings’ fast-paced style of play. Therefore go with under.

We have another NBA preview for you – Portland Trail Blazers vs. Dallas Mavericks.