The Western Conference is home to two of the NBA title favorites in the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. However, the dregs of the conference include a couple of the worst teams in the league. One such franchise bringing up the rear is the Sacramento Kings, who entered this season with the lowest win total in the conference. The Kings dropped their first two games to start the campaign, and they’ll now have to face a confident Memphis Grizzlies team that is 2-0 to open the season following wins over the Jazz and Warriors. Will Memphis remain undefeated or will Sacramento pick up its first victory of the season on Sunday?
The Grizzlies enter as 3.5-point favorites with the game total set at 234.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook. Let’s get into my Grizzlies vs Kings prediction and best bet for this Western Conference matchup.
Grizzlies vs. Kings Preview
The Grizzlies have long been one of the more underrated organizations in the NBA, and much of their success over the last decade plus is due to their ability to draft and develop players at a high level. That appears to be the plan in Memphis this season, as Ja Morant was traded in the offseason and the roster is predominantly made up of young, talented players who will ideally blossom under the tutelage of head coach Tuomas Iisalo.
Early returns were quite impressive; the Grizzlies started the new season with two consecutive victories over teams that were expected to at least compete for a berth in the Western Conference play-in come next April. However, those results might be a bit misleading as to the overall trajectory of this team. After all, the Golden State Warriors are very banged-up and appear to be inept offensively without some of their key contributors. Furthermore, the Utah Jazz are a promising group, but they are still a young team that had to start the season on the road against Ty Jerome — who finished with a career-high 45 points — and a Grizzlies team that got hot in the second and third quarters.
As for the hosts, Sacramento entered the campaign as a projected bottom-feeder and that is a popular prediction that should hold true as the season rolls along. The Kings were dispatched in each of their first two games, and their porous defense has been largely at fault for those performances. However, there is still talent on this roster in the form of Domantas Sabonis, Zach Lavine and rookie Darius Acuff Jr. For the Kings to have a chance of springing the upset at home, they must score early and often, which is their only real path to team success on a consistent basis.
Grizzlies vs. Kings Pick, Best Bet
Sacramento has surrendered 121 and 128 points respectively over its first two games, which bodes well for the Grizzlies offense on Sunday. On the other side, the Kings have the talent on offense to put up a big number in a game where the pace will likely be pretty quick and possessions could be plentiful. This is one of the highest totals on Sunday’s slate, but I can only look toward the Over for my Grizzlies vs Kings prediction.