Sacramento Kings AT New Orleans Hornets
December 15th, 2010 at 8:00 PM EST
Opening Line: New Orleans -10.5
Current Line: New Orleans -10.5
Opening Total: 186
Current Total: 186
Opening Moneyline: New Orleans -700 / Sacramento +550
Current Moneyline: New Orleans -624 / Sacramento +501
Both teams enter tonight’s game on losing streaks. New Orleans has dropped three straight to Miami, Philadelphia, and Oklahoma City; and Sacramento has dropped their last two to Houston and Miami, and they have lost 10 of their last 11. New Orleans has really struggled of late, having only won 3 of their last 10 outings. They are, however, 9-3 at home and Sacramento is but 1-9 on the road.
The Kings have a -7.0 point differential, scoring only 94.9 a game and giving up 101.9. New Orleans is +1.2, scoring 93.2 and giving up 92.0, playing a slow paced halfcourt game.
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Sacramento’s last 14 games in New Orleans, and Sacramento has won only 1 of their last 10 games in New Orleans, so it’s easy to see why NBA handicappers have set the spread at 10.5. The total has gone UNDER in all five of New Orelans last 5 games, and New Orelans is 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6. The total has also gone UNDER in 4 of New Orleans last 5 games at home. New Orleans is 1-4 ATS in their last five games at home against Sacramento.
Key Matchups for tonight’s game:
Tyreke Evans vs. Marco Belinelli
Tyreke Evans was the rookie of the year last year, playing mostly out of position at the point guard slot. He became only the fourth player ever to average 20-5-5 in his rookie season, the other three having been Lebron James, Michael Jordan, and Oscar Robertson, so Evans is in an exclusive club and has a very promisnig career ahead of himself. This year his scoring is down from last year, to 16.5 from 20.1, mainly due to his poor 39% FG. He’s still taking the same number of shots and playing big minutes. Marco Belinelli is mostly a gunner and a poor defender, so Evans should have his way tonight on offense. His size and strength will enable him to get to he basket a lot and create for himself and teammates. On the defensive end, he will have to stay close to Belinelli, who averages 1.8 made threes per game and 11.7 points per game.
DeMarcus Cousins vs. Emeka Okafor
Cousins has had his ups and downs this year, at times looking like the player that made him the fifth overall pick and at other times looking lost and confused. His field goal percentage of 40% is unacceptable for a big man, but he is getting a lot of touches and looks, so he still is averaging 11.3 points per game. Okafor is notoriously a good defender and will seek to push Cousins away from his comfort zone in the paint. Okafor doesn’t do much on the offensive end, scoring mostly off putbacks and garbage baskets, averaging 9.7 points per game, but Cousins will still have to stay with Okafor and not cheat off because Chris Paul is capable of finding any open man.
Tonight’s game probably won’t be close as NBA oddsmakers have set the line at 10.5 for a reason. Sacramento is horrible on the road and just pretty bad overall. If Evans gets going they might be able to cover the spread, but New Orleans is clearly the better team, making a moneyline bet a good idea.
