Game Time: 10:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 

Venue:  Chase Center, San Francisco, California

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Warriors -13.5; O/U 223.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  Warriors -13.5; O/U 223.5

VegasInsider:  Spread: NL

WynnBet: Spread:  Warriors -13; O/U 223

Kings: 18-34, 13 place Western Conference

Warriors: 39-13, 2nd place Western Conference

A Western Conference battle of the littles against the bigs.  The next to worst must face the next to best.  The Western Conference is currently dominated by the Phoenix Suns as is the whole league… but if a 2nd best team in the league is crowned the result is the Golden State Warriors.  The Warriors look a lot like the Suns in that they are deeeeeep!  At every position there is a quality if not great starter… behind those starters is a bench loaded with talent. The Golden State roster has some of the best shooters/scorers ever assembled, especially since the return of SG Klay Thompson.  They also have some of the best defenders in the league.  PF Draymond Green got clowned on ESPN/TNT months ago when he declared himself the best defender in league history… everyone who clowned him is wrong… Draymond was a little wrong.  Draymond (who is out with injury right now) isn’t the best defender… but when you add everything else he is clearly the best “do your job” player of all time.  The guy contributes a little scoring… a lot of rebounds… a lot of assists.. Great steals and great blocks.  Draymond is every coach's dream.  He does everything on the important end and facilitates Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins and etc and etc.  He makes the engine run.   The Sacramento Kings are nothing.  They have seemingly always been nothing for anyone who can’t remember the late 90’s very early 2000’s.  It’s sad really.  The Kings  missed on more lottery draft picks than most teams in the league have had lottery draft picks in the last two decades.  There is a famous story where the Kings owner Vivek Ranadive wanted his team to leave the Center to not run back on defense.  His idea was if their Center remained on the offensive end the whole time… he could get a pass after every rebound and dunk the ball.  Vivek didn’t realize that the other team would score with impunity in a 5 on 4 set… plus all any team would have to do is have one of the guards drift a little to intercept the full court passes that would result.  The dream offense never happened… but it is indicative of the lack of basketball IQ that has led to 20 years of disaster basketball.  The laws of time and high draft picks has resulted in the team having an assortment of good young players… that will play their best basketball for a team with a higher IQ.  The Kings are playing the rest of the season for a high pick and should enter this trade deadline with a nod towards the future… The problem is no one related to the Kings can be trusted to actually know who they should trade and who they should keep.  Sad Kings.  Bad Kings.

The Sacramento Kings have won two of their last ten games.  That is bad.  They beat the Houston Rockets, who may be the worst team in the league and then lost to them the next night.  They beat the Los Angeles Lakers who may be the worst team in the league with the best players… it’s a weird dichotomy. The Kings have gone 5-5 ATS over their last ten… which only means that the Sportsbooks give them deep point spreads to encourage betting.  The Kings are not without ability… they are without institutional ability.  PG De’Aaron Fox at 21 ppg would be welcomed on 20 teams across the league as the starter.  SG Tyrese Halliburton raises eyebrows with his assists and all-around defensive play.  C Richaun Holmes is a Philadelphia 2nd round pick from 2015 that has gotten a little better every year he has been in the NBA. The problem with the Club is of course they have missed on PF Marvin Bagley III, overpaid SF/PF Harrison Barnes, and aren’t sure what to do with SG Buddy Hield… If they move off of Buddy Hield they will have failed on 4 SG lottery picks over the last 9 seasons.  Failed mightily BTW.  The trade deadline is coming.  If Vivek Ranadive put me in charge… I wouldn’t know who to fire first?

The Golden State Warriors are the opposite of the Sacramento Kings.  They draft well, trade well, and work the cap fantastically.  They are in a position where they could ride Steph, Klay, and Draymond with a wonderful supporting cast to another NBA title this year!  If that doesn’t work out… they could still compete next year… if that doesn’t work out they could still… well you get it. The Warriors have won 7 games in a row.  They have 8 wins over their last ten games.  They were bested only by the Phoenix Suns and the Memphis Grizzlies during that run.  Leading scorer Stephen Curry lodges 26 points per game and leads this club of pure quality 1-10… if not more.  The Warriors are missing several key players to the injury list under the listing of: Questionable.  Meaning they don’t take the Kings seriously and they may only play what they need to be competitive against a team of scrubs.

Nelly’s was 3-0 last night and 3-0 on Monday as well, riding a hot streak in basketball. We’ve hit back-to-back winners in the NBA and tonight we have an Eastern Conference Knockout play on Wednesday’s schedule to add to a 62% NBA run since January 12. Join one of the BigAl.com leaders in the past week for another big night in basketball. Go get it! Get Nelly Sports’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Sacramento is 18-34 on the season, but 22-30 ATS. They have logged 24 Overs, 27 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 6-18 on the road.

The Warriors are 39-13 on the season, but 29-20-3 ATS.  They have notched 20 Overs, 31 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 24-4 in home games.

Sacramento is 13th in scoring with 109.3 ppg, 21st in rebounds with 44.1 per game, and 20th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  They are shooting a lousy 19th in FG%, 21st in 3PT%, and 23rd in FT%. On defense they are a joke.  29th in defense while allowing 114.7 ppg from opponents.

The Warriors are 12th in scoring with 110.7 ppg, 3rd in rebounds with 46.6 per game, and 12th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  They are shooting 8th in FG%, 7th in 3PT%, and 20th in FT%.  They rank an amazing 2nd in defense while allowing a stingy 102.5 ppg from opponents.

Our prediction for Thursday, February 3rd is….  Warriors 118 - Kings 100

The Warriors will roll the Kings no matter who takes the court.  The Kings are razor thin in depth and bad on defense when healthy… the Warriors are deep, deep, deep and great at offense. Since Sacramento is 5-5 ATS over the last ten games they have established that when they are down they quit.  The Warriors will put them down. You may want to avoid this game as soooo many Warriors are listed as QUESTIONABLE.  Which means they may not play or could play the whole thing.  Look closely at the spread before putting down any money. 13 1/2 points is a ridiculously tough spread for even the best teams to cover.  

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Sacramento is 5-3 ATS versus Golden State over the last 3 seasons.

Sacramento is 3-2 ATS versus Golden State at Golden State the last 3 seasons.

6 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER.

Kings: DeAaron Fox (ankle) Quest ** PF Marvin Bagley III (ankle) Out

Warriors: PG Stephen Curry (toe) Quest ** SF Andrew Wiggins (knee) Quest ** Sf otto Porter JR (foot) Quest **  PF Namanja Bjelica (back) Quest ** PG Gary Payton Jr (shin) Out ** PF Draymond Green (calf) Out ** Sg Andre Iguodala (hip) Out C James Wiseman (knee) Out

Warriors: PF Moses Moody, SF Juan Toscano-Anderson, C Kevon Looney, PG Damion Lee, SG Jordan Poole

Kings: SF Maurice Harkless, PF Harrison Barnes, C Richaun Holmes, SG Tyrese Haliburton, PG Davion Mitchell 

Warriors

Points: Stephen Curry 26

Assists: Draymond Green 7.4

Rebounds: Kevon Looney 7.6

Steals: Stephen Curry 1.5

Blocks: Draymond Green 1.2

Kings

Points: De'Aaron Fox 21

Assists: Tyrese Haliburton 7.2

Rebounds: Richaun Holmes 8.1

Steals: Tyrese Haliburton 1.6

Blocks: Richaun Holmes 1.0

Warriors: Steve Kerr

Kings: Alvin Gentry