Game Time: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 11th, 2022 

Venue:  Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Jazz -9.5: O/U 230

Fanduel:  Spread:  Jazz -9.5; O/U 230

BetMGM:  Spread: Jazz -9.5; O/U 229.5

Kings: 24-44, 13th place Western Conference

Jazz: 41-24, 4th place Western Conference

A lopsided NBA matchup of the #4 team in the West and the #13 team in the West.  The Western Conference is bunched at the top with three great teams who could win it all.  The Phoenix Suns, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Golden State Warriors…. After those teams… there is the Jazz.  The Jazz have a really good roster and year in and year out we wait for them to make something of it… the truth is though that they are always a little underneath the best rosters.  It’s not really Utah’s fault… the play in a place that has zero appeal to NBA free agents.  They have to do all their building through the draft and smart trades.  They have done both those things well… but still it is not enough.  They will make the playoffs and have a nice first round win over whoever is in 5th place… Then they will be knocked out by whoever they play next.  That is the way of the world.  That is written in stone.  Barring injury, the Jazz will only see the Western Conference Finals or an actual NBA Finals if they watch as a fan.  There is a month left in another nice Jazz season… we approach another nice Jazz offseason… we await another nice Jazz late first round draft pick where they draft yet another nice swing player in hopes he will make a difference.   It’s not sad really… it just is.   The Sacramento Kings on the other hand are a tire fire.  Individually they have nice pieces… a good point guard in De’Aaron Fox… they recently added a great big man in PF/C Domantas Sabonis (who sat out last game because he made contact with an official and earned a suspension)... People tell me that occasionally SF Harrison Barnes plays well.  I don’t know myself. I only watch the kings when I have $100 on the team playing the Kings.  That is never determined by the Kings, but only by the point spread.  The Kings are also a place that free agents do not want to play.  To make matters worse they are owned by the worst owner in basketball at the moment Vivek Ranadive.  The story I’m always told by my Sacramento contact is that Vivek, when he first bought the team, wanted his GM to draft a 7’0 - 7’4 player who would never come back on defense.  The thinking was that if he camped out under the basket then every Kings possession would be a full court pass to an open center who would then dunk the ball.  Mr Ranadive had thought that he alone had figured out the magic code to basketball winning.  When it was explained to Mr. Ranadive that teams would just leave a forward at halfcourt waiting to intercept these full court passes he still struggled with the concept that his plan wasn’t perfect.  That guy has hired and fired coaches and allowed an inept GM who used to be Sacramento’s GM bungle several trades not only a littl;e but big time.  The Sacramento Kings drafted 4 shooting guards over the span of 6 drafts and none of them worked out… to get rid of one of the shooting guards Vlade included future first round picks to the team that would take him off their hands.  As if simply sitting a guy still on a rookie contract would have broken an already bad team.  The Kings are a tire fire from top to bottom and the players that are there must endure their time.  Coach Alevin Gentry took over for the fired Luke Walton.  Why Luke Walton was hired to begin with… doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.  Hopefully Mr Gentry (a man of class) enjoys something else about the city besides the paycheck.

The Sacramento Kings have won 2 of their last ten games.  They went 5-5 ATS during that stretch.  A reason that I rarely bet on Kings games is that a bad team with good players can get a big point spread then beat it easily while still losing the game.  It’s maddening.  Another dreadful part of the Kings is that they are 15th on offense which is dead middle of the NBA… but almost last on defense (29th)... meaning they could hand you a bad beat by giving up a few baskets in a matter of seconds.  The Sacramento injury list is littered with Questionable statuses, making the projected starting five just a guess outside of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.  The Kings have also reached the Magic part of the season where the only thing that could possibly benefit the franchise is more losing… the more losses that pile up the more likely they are to win the NBA draft lottery… which makes it more likely that they could trap a good player in Sacramento for the next 7 years.

The Utah Jazz have a real chance at catching the Golden State Warriors for 3rd place if the Warriors continue to swoon.  It’s not likely since Draymoond and James Wiseman have been announced as just days from making a simultaneous return… but still Utah has a clear chance.  The Jazz have won 7 of their last ten games.  They went 4-6 ATS during that stretch. They blew out Portland in the last game 123-85… which was great because they beat a 20 point point spread!  So many people were suckered into betting on the Trail Blazers when they saw Jazz -20 that Casinos may offer .99 cent shrimp cocktails this weekend.  That will be the story of this matchup as well… what is the spread? and who will actually play for Sacramento?  The Jazz are good for 120 points easy.   The measure will be what the Kings are good for?

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The Kings are 24-44 on the season, but 32-36 ATS.  They have notched 34 Overs, 33 Unders, and 1 Push. They are a dreadful 9-24 in road games.

Utah is 41-24 ATS, but 28-35-2 ATS.  They have logged 30 Overs, 34 Unders, and 1 Push.  The Jazz are 23-10 in home games.

The Kings are 15th in scoring with 110.0 ppg, 24th in rebounds with 43.5 per game, and 22nd in AST/TO ratio with 1.7. On defense they rank 29th while allowing 115.2 ppg.  That’s right… they give up 5 more points than they score.

The Jazz are 5th in scoring with 113.7 ppg, 5th in rebounds with 46.2 per game, and 26th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  On defense they rank 10th while holding opponents to 107.3 ppg

Our prediction for Saturday, March 12th is…. Jazz 120 - Kings 110

Yup, look at the point spread closely.  The Kings are good to cover in this one as the spread should be double digit and Domantas Sabonis should be hopping mad over his one game suspension.  Check the spread closely, the Jazz will still win.  The Kings are in the position where players will be looking to score as their stats will serve as resumes that will help them get out of town.

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The Kings are 62-44 ATS versus Utah since 1996.
Utah is 7-2 ATS versus Sacramento over the last 3 seasons.
3 of 4 games in this series have gone Over the last 3 seasons.

Kings: SG Jeremy Lamb (hip) Quest ** SF Mo Harkless (ankle) Quest ** PF Richaun Holmes (personal) Quest **  SG Terrence Davis II (wrist) Out

Jazz: SF Bojan Bogdanovic (leg) Out

Kings: SF Harrison Barnes, PF Trey Lyles, C Alex Len, PG De’Aaron Fox, SG Justin Holiday

Jazz: PF Royce O’Neale, SF Bojan Bogdanovic, C Rudy Gobert, PG Mike Conley, SG Donovan Mitchell

Kings

Points: De’Aaron Fox 22.7

Assists: Tyrese Haliburton 7.4 (gone)

Rebounds: Domantas Sabonis 12.8

Steals: Tyrese Haliburton 1.7 (gone) 

Blocks: Richaun Holmes 0.9

Jazz

Points: Donovan Mitchell 25.5

Assists: Donovan Mitchell 5.4

Rebounds: Rudy Gobert 14.7

Steals: Donovan Mitchell 1.6

Blocks: Rudy Gobert 2.2

Kings: Alvin Gentry

Jazz: Quin Snyder