Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers
Time: 6 PM CT (NBA League Pass)
Spread: CLE -12.5
Total: 219
Betting odds c/o 5dimes
The Sacramento Kings are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. Though Sacramento has lost three straight, it sits just 4.5 games behind No. 8 Utah. The Kings will look to snap that skid in Cleveland tonight, but the Cavaliers are favored by 12.5 points in the game. It will air at 6 PM Central on NBA League Pass.
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The Kings were in all three games it lost, with the average margin of loss being 7.6 points. The most recent defeat was a 128-199 loss to the Boston Celtics. Unsurprisingly, DeMarcus Cousins had a monster game against the Boston Celtics’ lackluster frontcourt. He finished with 31 points on 11 of 25 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Kings put six players in double figures, including Omri Casspi and Darren Collison off the bench. Sacramento shot 49.5 percent in the game and hit 10 of 26 from three point range. The Kings played a good game, but the Boston Celtics were even sharper offensively, hitting 56 percent from the field (though Sacramento did force 24 turnovers).
Cousins has been on a tear, if one has not been paying attention. The former Kentucky Wildcat is averaging 30.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game over his past 10 contests while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor. In the three games in February, all losses, he has posted an average of 28.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Cousins is a high turnover player (3.8 this season), so to see the assists spike is a good sign. He had 10 assists n the 128-119 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 5.
But it has never been a question of talent with Cousins.
This is his potential, being arrived at, long last. He had been criticized for being a headache, a problem child for the Sacramento Kings that was keeping the team from ultimate success. George Karl has done well with Cousins, though, and Sacramento is turning heads this year with a 21-30 record.
Even if the Kings miss the playoffs, it now has something approaching a true team, one that can be tinkered with rather than imploding the roster.
The Cavaliers ended its two-game losing streak last night against the New Orleans Pelican, winning 99-84 at home. LeBron James had 27 points and eight assists, while Kyrie Irving put in work too with 29 points, three assists and four rebounds. The pair combined to shoot 22 of 41 from the field, but the rest of the team shot just 17 of 49 from the floor (34 percent).
Kevin Love did not play in the game, but he is probable for tonight. He has been nursing a thigh injury. Love has been more assertive in the Cavs past 10 games. He is averaging 17.2 points and 8.9 rebounds over that span. Over the Cavs past five games he has averaged 15.5 points and nine rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range.
It is still not the Kevin Love of his Minnesota Timberwolves days, but we may never see that dominance again from the forward. His career stats are starting to normalize after a year and a half of mediocre basketball, and the Cavaliers may not re-sign him when he becomes a free agent this summer.
The Cavaliers have Tristan Thompson already to man the 4-spot, and Love would be both costlier and potentially less effective. That makes it an easy decision in the eyes of many.
Whatever the Cavs decide to do with Love, it is focused right now on winning a title first. A lot of fans and analysts alike are saying Cleveland has a slim chance of knocking off either the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs. The best teams in the league do remain in the West, but Cleveland is the giant of the East, so it begins with defending its Eastern Conference crown.
