The Sacramento Kings finish up their short 3-game road trip with a visit to the desert, where they’ll play the worst team of the young season, the Phoenix Suns. This game won’t have any implications on the Western Conference playoffs, but the teams would still breathe a little better if they could come out of it with a win. The game will be played at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona with the tip-off scheduled for 10:00 PM ET. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Arizona and NBCS CA.
Kings at Suns
Spread: Phoenix -1.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 213.5 (-110)
The Kings defeated in Denver, 79-96
The arctic-cold offense, 36 percent shooting, a 39-to-589 rebounding disadvantage, and limited energy led to an early and permanent deficit in the loss to Denver on Saturday night. The Kings looked every bit an exhausted, overwhelmed young team on the end of a 3 games in four nights opening schedule.
The Kings played an absolutely abysmal first half, with only 34 points and lack of any proper ball movement. The most terrifying scenes from the defeat are the constant isolations for Zach Randolph, with Kings clearing the entire side for him to play one-on-one, rarely with a positive outcome. After the starting lineup of Hill, Hield, Justin Jackson, Randolph, and Cauley-Stein put the Kings in a hole early, Joerger replaced all the veterans with youngsters, and that didn’t work, either. The Kings are a work in progress and are yet to see Bogdan Bogdanovic on the court, but this game was definitely a step in a wrong direction.
Bogdanovic is questionable to play in Phoenix on Monday, and his potential return and De’Aaron Fox’s strong display, combined with poor backcourt play from Hill and Hield, could mean a different distribution in Kings backcourt.
Place: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Date/Time: Monday, October 23th, 2017. 10:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: Fox Sports Arizona, NBCSCA
Phoenix Suns’ season spiraling out of control after only 3 games
For the second time in three games, the Suns were obliterated. The bad news is that they lost even the close one against the Lakers. The really bad news is that the two teams that had handed them 40+ points defeats are borderline playoff teams in the West, not the best ones. But if you are a Suns fans, you better close your eyes on this one: coach Watson’s comment after Suns 88-130 loss to the Clippers was that they hadn’t played with enough pace. Even if you ignore the fact that they’ve played at the pace of 107.0, third highest in the league, would you agree that that’s what’s wrong with their game?!?
All the problems that plagued the Suns their first two games were evident again Saturday. They couldn’t defend the 3-point line, with the Clippers hitting 12 of 26 shots, which isn’t hard to do when players are left wide open. Phoenix was outrebounded, 51-36. The Suns had as many turnovers (19) as assists. Meanwhile, the two players the Suns depend on to be their primary scorers – Bledsoe and Devin Booker – had a combined 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
The coaching staff has to get this thing under control, quickly. Do whatever it takes to ensure that your team and your franchise don’t become a laughing stock of the NBA. The game against the Kings is another good opportunity to win, but what’s more important, to play the right way. And for the Suns, it starts on the defensive end of the court. They are supposedly pleased with Bender’s defense, and as Marquese Chriss rolled his ankle last game, there’s a decent possibility that we see some changes to the rotation if not the starting line-up.
Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns Game Trends & Prediction
The Kings started the season well for their backers, but have let them down in Denver, dropping to 2-1 against the spread record this season. This will be their third consecutive game away from home, so perhaps it’s wearing them down a bit. All the three games have scored for the under punters. As much as the previous game could have been blamed on Dallas, the Kings have also played Houston and Denver, and only once did the total surpassed 181 points.
The Suns are 0-3 against the spread, so we can expect them to be aided by very large handicaps in the next weeks. They finished last season with a 104-129 to the Kings as a 4.5 point underdog away from home. This looks like a joke now. In the total points market, the Suns should be an attractive over target, but they failed to score against Portland and Clippers, causing two unders. Being 1-2 against the over/under at this point, and playing the under heavy Kings, this might be a perfect chance to get a value bet on the overs. At last, the coach wants them to play faster.
A unique ranking system – AdmiRank helps you understand how good NBA teams are on a scale to 100. When a below average team like the Kings have such a significant advantage in the rankings, you know that the opposing Suns are bad. Like, historically bad.
If you are not the closest relative of the players or the staff, I won’t blame you if you decide not to watch this game. In fact, it should be blacked out for all registered young players, to avoid spreading the bad basketball malaise. This doesn’t mean that we are going to shy away from making a profit on it.
Believe it or not, the Suns are set as favorites in this game. They face a tiny, 1.5-point handicap, but still. The Kings are not the greatest team, and clearly won’t run the Suns out of the building, but at this point, I’d take them at much worse than these odds. Also, I’m going after the over points here. My numbers show only 216 points for a fair number, so this isn’t all that clear value, but then again, the bet passes the eye test and I’m going to roll with it.
My Pick: Sacramento +1.5 (-110) and moneyline +110
Total: over 213.5 points (-110)
