NBA: Charlotte Hornets VS Sacramento Kings Pick and Predictions 12/19/2022

Game: 10:10 PM ET,  Monday, December 19th, 2022

Venue: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California

TV:  NBA League Pass

Hornets: 7-22, 15th place Eastern Conference

Kings: 16-12, 5th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Kings -10.5, O/U 240.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Kings -10, O/U 241

Fanduel: Point Spread: Kings -10, O/U 241

Hornets: SF Gordon Hayward, PF PJ Washington, C Mason Plumlee, PG LaMelo Ball, SG Kelly Oubre JR

Kings: PF Keegan Murray, SF Harrison Barnes, C Domantas Sabonis, PG De’Aaron Fox, SG Kevin Huerter.

An inter-conference battle between a terrible Eastern Conference team that is winning the ultimate prize this season… and a good Eastern Conference team that has won the ultimate prize many many times.. But has nothing to show for it.  The Ultimate prize is being the worst team.  The reason is that it qualifies you to have great odds for winning the first pick in the NBA draft… something all bettors know is that a great chance is not a certainty at all… I won’t play the Wheel of Fortune in Vegas… for the exact same reason that the worst team in the NBA doesn’t always win the best draft position in the draft…. It is also the reason I don’t play roulette or blackjack or Pai Gow… I would much rather do my research and gain an actual advantage in Sports Betting.  Still the Hornets have managed to be the worst against a field of Pistons, Magic, Thunder, Rockets, so… Bravo Hornets.  Seriously, the 3 best players on the Hornets last season are missing either through injury or off-court legal issues… that leaves a bad team to rely on their 4th best player guard Terry Rozier.  The Sacramento Kings used to be like the Hornets… no longer. After a mid-season trade with the Pacers last year the Kings added C Domantas Sabonis to pair with PG De’Aaron Fox… and now the perennial worst team in the NBA is an actual contender because of those two stars and a strong level of depth based on years of drafting highly and swinging trades… made possible from so many years of being terrible. It has been pointed out before that the best year in 2 decades to have a terrible team with a chance for the #1 pick in the draft… is also the year that the Kings are suddenly good.  They can’t win without losing.  The great betting opportunity in this game is deciding exactly how many points you are comfortable putting on the Kings… because the Kings will win.  Let’s check the numbers.

The Charlotte Hornets are on an 8-game losing streak.  It has plunged them to the bottom of the barrel in the league, a very hard thing to do considering they had to fall below the Detroit Pistons.  They lost their last game to the Denver Nuggets 119-115… but it was a win ATS because the spread was 9 points.  Prior to this game they had lost 4 straight ATS.  The Hornets got 31 points from LaMelo Ball who has only been back for 3 games since missing 6 weeks to a knee injury. LaMelo got those points but played no defense whatsoever. PG/SG Terry Rozier left the game, after 14 minutes and only 2 points, with pain in his hip and will miss the game against the Kings. C Mason Plumlee and PF/C PJ Washington and backup Center Nic Rochards got abused on the low block by Denver Center Nikola Jokic  who cruised to a 40 point, 27 REBOUND, 10 assist night.

The Sacramento Kings are on a 2-game winning streak and have won 6 of their last 10 games.  They have been a good bet this season as they are 18-10 ATS… That is an $8000 dollar profit on simply betting on the Kings a unit per game. They won their last game over the Detroit Pistons 122-113.  C Domantas Sabonis landed a statline of 23 pts, 13 rbs, and 7 asts…. PG De'Aaron Fox 24 pts, 5 rbs, and 9 asts.  Season after season De’Aron is outperforming Lonzo Ball who was taken before him in their draft.  The father’s of the two point guards had a brief twitter/social media feud… De’Aaron’s dad has won that feud. Forwards Keegan Murray and Harrison Barnes are both capable defenders who put up 20 and 19 points respectively in the win.  

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CHA: 7-23, 13-15-2 ATS, 15-14-1 O/U, 3-12 in road games.

SAC: 16-12, 18-10 ATS, 12-15-1 O/U, 8-4 in home games.

The Hornets are 25th in scoring with 110.3 points per game, 5th in rebounds with 45.5 per game, 9th in AST/To ratio with 1.8, and 16th in blocked shots with 4.9 per game.

The Kings are 2nd in scoring with 117.8 points per game, 25th in rebounds with 42.1 per game, 6th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8, and 29th in blocks with 3.2 per game.

Our prediction for Monday, December 19th is…. Kings 119 - Hornets 111

Bet on the Hornets or skip the bet.  10 points is an insane spread in the NBA… That is really a college football spread.  The Kings do not care about the last 3 minutes of a game if they are up by 12-15 points… As a result the Hornets could cover the spread by just lackadaisical luck.  Plus with LaMelo back in the Hornets fold, the offense will be sped up and Sacramento will be in a foot race all night long. They will be happy just to get the win and go home.

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Charlotte is 5 OVER and 1 UNDER as an underdog of 10 or more points this season.

The Kings are 8-4 ATS as a favorite this season.

The Kings are 11-6 ATS when the total is 230 or greater this season.

Hornets:  PG LaMelo Ball.  LaMelo is an offensive artist… pushing the tempo, crisp passes, made baskets… but his defense is terrible.  LaMelo led this Hornets team to the highest scoring offense in the NBA last season… they also were the 2nd worst defense in the league.  If LaMelo can’t find at least an average defensive performance?... He will not be worth his paycheck no matter how many points and assists.

Kings:  SF Harrison Barnes.  Harrison Barnes was with the Golden State Warriors and the Splash Brothers from 2012-2016.  He left them for the Dallas Mavericks and a lot more money after getting a ring.  In the 6 seasons since he has toiled away on bad teams.  Always a good player, never a superstar… 3 with the Mavericks, 3 with the Kings.  It must feel nice to have started winning games again.  It must feel nice to be back in the playoff hunt after a 6-year break.  

Hornets:  Steve “c’mon guys!” Clifford

Kings: Mike “lets keep winning” Brown