The Sacramento Kings have been a disappointing story all season, and they’re currently sitting with a 12-33 record at the bottom of the Western Conference despite having high-profile players on their roster. Tonight they’ll visit the 25-20 Cleveland Cavaliers, who are sixth in the East and have also been slightly underwhelming despite the excellent play of Donovan Mitchell.
The Cavaliers are currently -550 favorites on the Moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the point total set to 233.5. Below, I’ll break down tonight’s matchup and offer my prediction.
Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers preview, prediction
The Kings were missing Domantas Sabonis for a long period this season and their record suffered because of it. They’re also feeble on the defensive end, conceding 119.1 points per 100 to opponents. It’s been something of a disaster for them despite their roster, which is built to compete. They’re in no-man’s-land; too weak to compete, but they have few young players to develop and a bleak future. They’ve gone 4-6 in their last ten games, hold a 3-17 Away record on the season, and are bottom-ten in Opponent PPG, bottom-ten in Opponent APG, and bottom-ten in Opponent RPG. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan seem destined to repeat their Chicago Bulls fate with this new team, and we have to start questioning whether the Kings’ front office made the correct moves in assembling this roster around Domantas Sabonis.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a playoff-quality team that was the first-seed just a season ago with a stellar 64-18 record, but repeated injuries to starting point guard Darius Garland have costed them important wins. They’ve been inconsistent and have had issues getting enough production from their bench pieces. In order for the Cavaliers to make a serious playoff push, they’ll have to polish up their game on both ends and get Garland back and healthy. All-Star center Evan Mobley has been up to par, but we haven’t seen the offensive leap we’re expecting out of him. He’s averaging fewer points than last season but has increased his defensive tenacity, up to 1.9 BPG and 1 SPG. His FG% has also dropped to 51.6%, a respectable mark but far below his last season’s 55.7%. The Cavaliers will be looking for more growth from Mobley to complement their savvy front-court talent.
Kings at Cavaliers pick, best bet
Best bet: Cleveland Cavaliers Moneyline -12.5
Due to how poor Sacramento has been on both ends of the floor – they’re third last in the league in offensive efficiency and third last in defensive efficiency – they’re going to have trouble handling this Cavaliers team, especially with their woeful away record. Look for the Cavaliers to jump on this opportunity to put this team away for a free win.
