Tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET, across tonight’s nine-game NBA slate, the Sacramento Kings will travel to face off with the Boston Celtics.
This is the second of two matchups between the two cross-conference opponents this season. They last played on January 1st, resulting in a 120-106 win for the Celtics. This matchup took place in Sacramento, and the two sides will now face off in Boston. This matchup took place in Sacramento, and the two sides will now face off in Boston.
Looking at the odds for tonight’s game, the Celtics are 11.5-point favorites and hold -550 odds on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Kings are +410 underdogs with the game total set at 219.5 points.
This article will look at a preview and prediction for the Friday night matchup.
Kings at Celtics Preview
The Sacramento Kings have slipped to 12-37 on the season, and now sit in 13th place in the Western Conference. They are playing on the second night of a back-to-back after falling to the Philadelphia 76ers in the previous game, and hoping to snap a seven-game losing streak overall. On the season, Sacramento has gone an NBA-worst 19-30 against the spread, and the game total has gone under in 26 of their 49 games played.
Zach LaVine headlines the production for the Kings, posting averages of 19.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. DeMar DeRozan is not far behind with 19.2 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.3 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook adds 15.4 points, 6.7 assists, and 6.0 rebounds per game. Westbrook missed last night’s game, but there is some optimism he could return tonight. Malik Monk was also sidelined for the previous game and has been upgraded to questionable, while Keegan Murray continues to be sidelined. Domantas Sabonis made his return to the floor and is posting averages of 15.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. Dennis Schroder, Maxime Raynaud, Keon Ellis, Nique Clifford, and Precious Achiuwa round out most of their notable depth.
The Kings are scoring at the third-worst rate in the league, averaging 110.5 points per game. They rank 29th in offensive rating, 18th in field goal percentage, 20th in three-point percentage, last in three-point attempts per game, and 18th in pace. Defensively, opponents are scoring 120.6 points per game against them, which ranks 27th in the NBA. Sacramento ranks 28th in defensive rating, 29th in opponents’ field goal percentage, and 13th in opponents’ three-point percentage.
The Boston Celtics sit in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 29-18 record on the season. They are currently tied with the Knicks for the second seed, but New York holds the tiebreaker with plenty of season still to be played. Boston is looking to bounce back from a loss to the Hawks in the previous game, but has won five of their last eight. On the season, the Celtics are 25-22 against the spread, and the game total has gone under in 28 of their 47 games played.
With Jayson Tatum continuing to recover from his Achilles tear, Jaylen Brown has stepped up into the true offensive engine of this Celtics team. Brown has made an MVP push for himself, posting averages of 29.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.9 assists. Unfortunately, Brown is considered doubtful for tonight with knee and hamstring injuries. Derrick White adds 17.4 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.6 rebounds, while Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta, and Anfernee Simons each also average in double figures. Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, and Luka Garza also make their impacts felt on nearly a night-to-night basis.
As a team, the Celtics rank 14th in the league in scoring, averaging 116.4 points per game. They are very dependent on their three-point production, ranking second in three-point attempts per game and ninth in three-point percentage. Boston is producing the second-best offensive rating, ranks 15th in field goal percentage, and is last in the league in pace. Defensively, opponents are scoring the third-fewest points per game at 110.1 per contest. The Celtics rank 13th in defensive rating, third in opponents’ field goal percentage, and 26th in opponents’ three-point attempts allowed.
Kings at Celtics Prediction, Best Bet
While you can look at the roster on paper and try to talk yourself into it, the Kings are a bad basketball team. They have not put together a consistent stretch of winning basketball all year and have found some creative ways to lose games. During last night’s matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento out-rebounded the Sixers 46-24, outscored them 52-38 in the paint, and pushed a lead to as many as 11. But Philadelphia was able to outscore them 22-8 in the final 7:29 of game-time to produce a two-point victory, despite sleepwalking through most of the matchup.
11.5 points is a large spread to lay in favor of this Celtics team, especially without Tatum or Brown available. But Joe Mazzulla has refused to let the standard drop regardless of who is available on a night-to-night basis. There is an identity for how they want to play and a high level of consistent competitiveness. The same can not be said about all teams in the league, especially this time of year.
Expect Boston to especially have success winning the battle from beyond the three-point arc. The Celtics attempt the second-most three-point attempts in the NBA and connect at the ninth-best efficiency. Looking at the Kings’ defense, they rank 13th in opponents’ three-point percentage. Sacramento is also dead last in perimeter volume offensively and ranks 20th in three-point percentage.
Trading two points for three points is a losing battle, and expect plenty of this in the matchup. Payton Pritchard and Anfernee Simons are each itching to see more consistent shot volume and will be looking to capitalize on Jaylen Brown’s absence. Expect both scoring-minded guards to have some success against a Kings’ perimeter defense that leaves plenty to be desired.
There are simply too many holes on this Kings team on both sides of the ball, and a much clearer vision for what the Celtics will look like. Sacramento enters on a seven-game losing streak, and has lost 10 consecutive games on the road when playing with a rest disadvantage. They have also failed to cover in seven consecutive matchups as road underdogs when playing with the rest disadvantage. Expect the Kings to run out of gas on the second night of a back-to-back, and with the home crowd backing Boston. While my lean is toward the Kings’ struggles to score also steering things toward the game total going under, I am backing the Celtics to replicate the dominance they showed in the first matchup between these two teams and winning by double digits again tonight.
