Portland Trail Blazers at Sacramento Kings
Time: 8 PM CT
Spread: SAC -8
Total: 208
Betting odds c/o Pincle
The Sacramento Kings have appeared talented on paper for the last several seasons, but it may finally be transferring to on court play. First year coach George Karl reiterated at several points that he was not concerned about the team’s tough start, and the Kings have won five of its past seven games to improve to 12-17 on the season.
With the Western Conference significantly weaker this season, the chance for the Kings to make the postseason is still tangible and real. Sacramento will host the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday evening in a game NBA oddsmakers are favoring the Kings by 8 points.
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Sacto’s most recent win came in a 108-106 defeat of the Indiana Pacers. DeMarcus Cousins had a monster game with 25 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks, and all Kings starters save Ben McLemore score in double figures.
All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo has recaptured the brilliance he has played with for most of his NBA career, and he had 13 points and 16 assists while also snagging eight boards in 37 minutes. Omri Casspi came through with a double-double of his own while seeing a team-high 41 minutes in the game.
Kings management has repeatedly stated that DeMarcus Cousins is not available in trade, but those kinds of statements seldom mean much. With the right offer, Cousins would be readily available for the taking. His statistical contributions render him valuable in so many respects, but his attitude (which is still only marginally better) and lack of team play seem to hold the mystery behind Sacramento’s struggles over the last three seasons.
Cousins is averaging 24.5 points per game but he turns it over 3.3 times per game while shooting a pitiful 41.7 percent from the floor. He has expanded his range to include the three-point shot, but just barely: Cousins is shooting 30 percent from behind the arc, just good enough to make teams take him seriously there, but not good enough to really be a strong threat that renders the Kings a better team.
Sacramento still hits 36 percent from three as a team, and it knocks down 8.2 per game. Between Cousins and the oft-maligned and overrated force that is Rudy Gay, the Kings really still appear to be mostly pretenders on the court. There is scarcely an illusion that even with this immense talent that Sacramento can challenge the top-tier teams in the Western Conference—even if it should crash the postseason party.
David Blatt and the Portland Trail Blazers appear to have fallen back to reality after a strong start to the season that scarcely made sense. Now 12-20 the Blazers appear more to be the team most expected, one on a fast track to another lottery pick.
Do not blame Portland’s backcourt for it, though.
Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are two dynamo scorers who combine to average 44.6 points per game. Lillard has been stellar, in fact, averaging 24.6 points and 6.8 assists despite teams being able to key in on him heavily due to the Blazers sheer lack of weapons surrounding him. Lillard is attempting 20 field goals per game, but he is shooting 41.8 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from behind the arc.
McCollum can catch fire, too. The fellow mid-major product is knocking down 43.5 percent from the floor and nearly 40 percent from three. The Blazers may not be much of a threat, but it most certainly has the backcourt duo it will employ as it continues to build its roster back up following the departure and trading of four of its five starters (all but Lillard) over the offseason.
After star forward LaMarcus Aldridge agreed to terms with San Antonio, blowing it up was the only thing that made sense.
