The Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans will face off in a No. 8 seed play-in game on Friday, April 19. Tipoff from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans is set for 9:30 p.m. ET, and the game will air on TNT. These teams matched up five times in the regular season, and the Pelicans won all five.
Sacramento doesn’t have any new injuries heading into game day. The Kings are expected just to be missing shooting guards Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter. The biggest injury for this matchup is for New Orleans, as star power forward Zion Williamson has a hamstring strain and will miss the game.
Sacramento is the 1.5-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Kings are installed at -125 on the moneyline, while the Pelicans are the +105 underdogs. The point total is set at 210.
Kings vs. Pelicans, 9:30 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Kings -1.5
New Orleans beat Sacramento 129-93, 117-112, 127-117, 133-100 and 135-123 this season. In those games, Williamson had 26, 25, 10 and 31 points while missing the fourth matchup. The Pelicans fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in their last game, while the Kings beat the Golden State Warriors.
The lack of Williamson, plus Sacramento covering in 60% of its road games this season, should help the Kings cover in their first win against New Orleans this year.
Over/Under: Over 210
Even the game between these teams that Williamson missed earlier this year finished with a combined 244 points. The Kings and Warriors scored 212 points in the first play-in game, while the Pelicans combined for 216 points with the Lakers. Similar to all five of their regular season matchups, Sacramento and New Orleans should combine for more than 210 points on Friday night. Take the over in this contest.