NBA: Sacramento Kings VS New Orleans Pelicans Pick and Predictions 02/05/2023

Game: 7:10 PM ET,  Sunday, February 5th, 2023

Venue:  Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

TV: NBA League Pass

Kings: 29-22, 3rd place Western Conference

Pelicans: 26-27, 11th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Kings -1.5, O/U 228.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Kings -1, O/U 228.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Kings -1, O/U 228.5

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

Pelicans: PG CJ MCCollum, SG Brandon Ingram, SF Trey Murphy III, PF Herbert Jones, C Jonas Valanciunas

A Western Conference matchup that is a dip into the bizarro world.  Both of these franchises have been cellar dwellers in the West for years and years… until very recently.  The Sacramento Kings have not tasted the playoffs in 18 seasons… the longest such streak for any NBA team.  They have been sad, they have been quiet… They spent what seemed like a decade missing out on the NBA draft lottery’s top prizes and instead they drafted a very long series of Shooting guards with none of them working out.. However, last season the Kings had built enough pieces in their war chest to pull off a trade for Indiana Pacer Center Domantas Sabonis.  Sabonis turned this team around with the help of PG De’Aaron Fox (who was snubbed by the NBA all-star game even though he deserves it).. Finally at long last the team is rolling.. Though not quite at the heights of Denver and Memphis… They are tantalizingly “almost there”!  If the team stands pat at the trade deadline and does not find a third star?... It may have been all for not.  Currently the weak spot on the Kings is starting SG Kevin Huerter who can shoot but is not much defensively… will the Kings ever get the shooting guard spot right?  The New Orleans Pelicans were another long-time cellar dweller who 3-4 seasons ago landed PF Zion Williamson and traded PF/C Anthony Davis in the same off-season.  The result was an embarrassment of riches that immediately improved the team… even if Zion has never played any meaningful games since. The team is stacked, but very very vulnerable to injury.  The recent spate of injuries that lost SF Brandon Ingram and PF Zion Williamson at the same time lead to a total collapse of an early favorite in the West… but they have Ingram back!  This is a team that needs to win now… but they need health to do it.  The great betting opportunity here will be found in the points spread and the injury report.

The Sacramento Kings have won 6 of their last 10 games. They went 5-4-1 ATS during that stretch.  In a “Doh!” moment they lost their last game to the team that drastically improved their franchise with a trade last season.. The Indiana Pacers… WHY?  Because the Kings drastically improved that franchise with the trade too… They gave them PG Tyrese Halliburton!  Whop only dropped 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 11 assists on them… but that was enough while playing lockdown defense.. History will record that the Kings should have found ANY other player to put in the deal while keeping Tyrese.. But C'est' La Vie… IT worked out for both.  Another thing that hampered the Kings was that they were missing De’Aaron Fox to injury.  De’Aaron right now is listed as day to day… and yes… Lots of people have speculated that Fox was ducking Halliburton.  In the loss the Kings got 15 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists from Sabonis, 23 points from SF Harrison Barnes, 16 points from SG Kevin Huerter… This was a sad loss, but it was good because the players the Kings clearly have on the block in search for a 3rd star would definitely be Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter… if they added picks could they get someone BIG?

The New Orleans Pelicans have won ZERO of their last 10 games.  They went 2-8 ATS during that stretch.  This is a sad reality.  A team with so much to gain from this season… may end up pulling the plug to just improve draft status if they can’t turn things around SOON… They can’t wait for Zion to return and history has shown they have to build a team that completely ignores they even have Zion on the roster.  If they could win without him they could treat him like whipped cream on ice cream… still great without it…as the can always seems to be empty.  They lost their last game to the Dallas Mavericks 111-106. In the loss they got 26 points from SF Brandon Ingram who has just returned from injury, but only 19 points & 9 assists from SG CJ MCCollum… I say only because the Pelicans need to find more from somewhere.  It also did not help that Dallas PG Luka Doncic dropped 31 points in just 23 minutes of play with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.. This one was over early.  It was over so early that Dalas actually got to play Davis Bertans for a full 5 minutes!

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The Kings are 1st in the league in scoring with 119.2 points per game, 23rd in rebounds with 42.2 per game.  On defense the Kings are 21st against points while allowing 116.2 points per game.  If they did find a defensive minded shooting guard on the market who could fill Huerter’s shooting responsibilities?... This team might be the hardest to beat.

The Pelicans are 13th in scoring with 114.8 points per game and 12th in rebounds with 44.2 per game.  In defense they rank 15th in defense of points by allowing 113.6 points per game. The Pelicans have a +0.8 points per game… but they went 0-10 over their last ten games.  They are very poorly balanced and need to make a move or take a step.

Our prediction for Sunday, February 5th is….  Kings 120 - Pelicans 100

Blow Out Alert.  Bet on the Kings.  The Kings are an offensive juggernaut and the Pelicans are average on defense.  Plus the Pelicans are at a “face the mirror” moment.  A big loss would open the trade deadline floodgates.  This team will not survive until Zion returns… They need to ship out 4 young players and find a full-fledged starter… and when Zion returns they need to be able to not rely on him staying.  

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(will update)

Kings: C Domantas Sabonis.  Sabonis has good games in his bad games.  This level of star isn’t Jokic or Giannis… but it is not too far off.  The statline is filled by whoever a team’s star is in today’s NBA… but when this cat fills his statline the Kings get wins.

Pelicans: SG Brandon Ingram.  Brandon just returned to the land of the healthy, but we can’t ignore that Zion and CJ are not the ROCK on this team.  The real true crux of the Pelicans is a healthy Brandon Ingram grabbing a double double every night.  

Kings: Mike “Let’s do this!” Brown

Pelicans: Willie “c’mon guys!” Green