NBA: Sacramento Kings vs. New Orleans Pelicans Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans meet on Friday. These two sides have a lot of similarities, and the most important one is that they constantly try to reach the playoffs and start the season with high hopes, only to end up very frustrated and below the postseason line. It is somewhat a usual scenario, especially for the Kings, who were in the playoffs some decade and a half ago. This season the goal is the same for both. Yet, we already see some struggles. New Orleans is without Zion and 1-4, while on the other side, the Kings aren’t convincing, and they too have a lot of problems of their own.

Preview

Sacramento Kings (2-2, -130) are favorites. On the road. Can you imagine that? It isn’t the picture we often see, we have to tell that. They had two losses in a row, against the Jazz and the Warriors (both at home), before a bounce back against the Phoenix Suns in Arizona.

Luke Walton’s guys won this match 110-107, as Harrison Barnes hit a game-winning three with the buzzer sounding. The Kings almost blew away a 10-point lead with under three minutes to go. The veteran forward imposed himself as the top player in this crew since the season began, posting 26.8 points and getting 10 boards per game, all while shooting over 50% both from the field and three-point territory.

Kings made 15 three-pointers against the Suns, and even though they got heavily outrebounded, 40-56, they managed to beat the rivals. Richaun Holmes couldn’t stop the Suns’ from doing damage in the paint, as they scored 60 points from that area. He had 12 points and boards, Barnes added 22 with nine boards, and De’Aaron Fox dropped 18 and nine dimes. Buddy Hield finally wok up, hitting seven threes and 26 points.

New Orleans Pelicans (1-4, +110) has just one win in five, with the latest loss coming at home to the Atlanta Hawks, 102-99. The Pels had three games in a row away from home, and are now back in Louisiana for some time, but as we saw, that didn’t help them record a victory.

Zion is out, and that is a massive blow for this unit. For how long will the former No.1 pick stay on the sidelines? Nobody knows. Against the Hawks, the Pels had a chance to win, leading 16 points at one moment, and apparently controlling the game. Yet, the inferiority under the rim (got outrebounded 55-44) and lack of confidence and focus in the key moments pushed them on the losing side.

Devonte Graham had 21 points with six dimes and five boards, Brandon Ingram had 20 with eight rebounds, while Jonas Valanciunas scored 16 with 15 rebounds. None of the players off the bench had 10 or more buckets.

Head to Head Games

During the last year, the Pels won twice and the Kings once.

Prediction

If the Pelicans don’t win in this match, that will signal that they aren’t ready to fight for the playoffs. This is a must-win game for these guys, who are better than their current result. We will go with the hosts to win because they didn’t have an easy schedule in the first few weeks, which is the reason for only one victory.

Pick: Pelicans win