NBA: Denver Nuggets vs. Sacramento Kings Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Denver Nuggets continue their trip through California, visiting the Sacramento Kings, who are looking superb lately. Luke Walton’s crew has five wins in the past six games, beating several quite well sides. As for the Nuggets, they had a blackout against the Lakers in the second half, mostly because of their weaknesses, but a little bit because of the officials’ foul criteria on Nikola Jokic. For a long time, the refs have controversial decisions involving Joker that often put the Serb into foul trouble in the key moments. 

Prediction

Denver Nuggets (12-9, -165) lost to the Lakers 114-93. They were up 12 points at halftime, but as soon as the third period started, the officials whistled for two fouls on Jokic, who would have one more until the end of the same, and had to sit on the bench while the LAL made a 19-0 series. 

The Joker had just 13 points and 10 boards in last night’s game. This was the third loss in the past 10 matches Denver played, and they are in the playoff zone, but far away from the Utah Jazz, the team that tops the West standings. The Nuggets are fourth, 4.5 games behind the team from Salt Lake City. 

What has come to our notice is that the Nuggets don’t know how to play without the Joker. Simply, they don’t have a plan B for the situations like the one from the match against the LAL. Jamal Murray is still searching for his rhythm, while Michael Porter Jr. isn’t delivering as expected. 

Sacramento Kings (10-11, +145) are on the rise, and if Walton’s unit gains some consistency, they could become one hell of a challenge for any opponent in the league. Apart from losing against the Miami Heat on the road, 105-104, the Kings beat all other their opponents.

The game against the Boston Celtics is the first one at the Golden One Center following a long time, and the Kings won it, 116-111. The C’s had problems with injured players, but that won’t diminish the home team’s big success. 

De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points with 11 assists, Harrison Barnes had 24, while Tyrese Haliburton dropped 21 off the bench, including five threes. Once mentioning Barnes, his contribution has been quite solid, with the experienced forward becoming the second scorer in the unite, behind Fox. He posts 17.2 points per night with 6.2 boards and 3.6 assists. 

Head to Head Games

This is the third time this season that Nuggets and Kings face one another. The first contest was the campaign opener, and it ended after overtime, 124-122 for the guests from Sacramento. The Kings won the second match in California as well, 125-115. 

Prediction

The spread on the hosts is +3.5, and we might shock you here, but we will back up their win. You can choose whether you want to include the spread or not, but it is our opinion that the Kings are looking superb and that they have the quality to beat the Nuggets for the third time this year. Fox, Barnes, occasionally Buddy Hield, all of them are in much better shape than the Nuggets’ backcourt. Be courageous go with the Kings’ victory.