Teams heading toward opposite directions clash as the Sacramento Kings visit Brooklyn in what should be a Nets blowout Tuesday by online sports betting odds. Find and bet this game from the BetUS online sportsbook.
The Kings have been the definition of “streaky” and have followed their four-game winning streak with a seven-game losing streak. Brooklyn has been on fire, on the other hand, winning its last six games.
The NBA odds are steep here and I’m picking Brooklyn but not against the spread. They’re dealing with a plethora of injuries and it’s a toss-up when it’s garbage time.
Kings vs Nets Betting Preview
Kings: As Streaky As It Gets
Who are these Kings? Well, it turns out they’re the same bad Kings we’ve all expected them to be. Sacramento seemed to understand the concept of defense earlier in the month but they regressed back to being horrible in their seven-game skid.
The Kings were 27th in defensive rating and 28th in net rating during this span. They’re also missing F Harrison Barnes, who has been banged up as shown by the steep decline in his performance.
De’Aaron Fox has also fallen back to earth following a torrid stretch from the end of January to the start of February. He’s on one of his worst stretches scoring just 17.2 points on 41 percent shooting including just 21.7 from deep.
Sacramento always had their offense going for them, but when even that’s broken, they’re just about the worst team in the league. Luke Walton may soon be joining Ryan Saunders in a list of coaches looking for new positions.
Nets: The Team To Beat
The Nets are going to be NBA champions. Let’s just face the obvious here. Their defense is getting better, they’re on a six-game winning streak with three coming against the LA teams and Phoenix, and nobody will be able to stop the Big Three.
During this six-game streak, Brooklyn’s defensive rating ranked 21st and that’s not bad considering it played the Clippers, Suns, and Kings, three top-ten offenses at the time. Brooklyn didn’t even have a fully healthy lineup.
The Nets are still without Kevin Durant (hamstring) and have some injuries to F Jeff Green (shoulder), G Iman Shumpert (G), and Timothy Luwawu-Cabarrot (hip). But James Harden has been balling out and carrying the Nets.
The former MVP has recorded 27.5 points, 10.7 assists, and 9.2 boards in his last six. Even crazier is that he’s averaging a whopping 68.3 true shooting percent (TS%) and a 133 offensive rating. With Harden, the Nets’ offense is nuclear and whether they play defense or not, they can beat any NBA team.
Nets By Everything
If you take Harden and just five Nets players, I’d still bet them to beat a fully healthy Kings team. And I haven’t even brought up Kyrie Irving yet, who’s put up 28.4 points with a 63.8 TS% during their winning streak.
The first time they played, the Kings let the Nets score 136 with a 72.1 TS%. Harden and Irving combined for 69 points and made 15 of their 21 threes. Even if the duo aren’t as hot, the Nets still got significant contributions from the rest of their team (five others scored in double figures). Heck, everyone but Bruce Brown shot over 50 percent.
Brooklyn is my NBA betting prediction for obvious reasons. But I am wary of the spread and it feels like a trap in some sense. The Nets could be up by 30 by the fourth and rest their main players leading to the Kings chipping away at the spread. Just bet the Nets straight or throw them in a parlay.
