NBA: Sacramento Kings vs. Charlotte Hornets Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Sacramento Kings head for North Carolina to face the rising Charlotte Hornets, searching for a way to improve their chances of reaching the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Hornets will attempt to extend the solid form and further improve the position in the Eastern Conference standings. These two sides already had one interesting contest two weeks ago, in which the Hornets won narrowly. The match in Charlotte should be a good one, as both sides prefer to play fast-paced basketball with lots of points and dynamic attacks.

Preview

Sacramento Kings (15-23, +140) lost in Atlanta to the Hawks, 121-106, which was the sixth straight game with subsequent wins and losses. But when looking at the bigger picture, the Kings have been terrible since the start of February, winning three and losing 12 games.

On most occasions, Sacramento would allow 120+ points, especially in the matches in which they suffered defeats. To be precise, the lowest number of conceded points in one losing game was 118, against the Heat in Miami.

Atlanta didn’t have too many troubles apart in the first period once the Kings had a 33-22 lead. Already the next one saw the hosts demolishing Fox and the boys, 39-18, keeping the momentum in the third period. Fox had a team-high 32 points but shooting threes 2-for-10. Buddy Hield was disastrous once again, 10 points, 4-for-16 from the floor, 2-for-11 for three points.

Charlotte Hornets (19-18, -165) started playing solid defense lately. In the past three games against the Pistons, Timberwolves, and the Raptors they allowed, 102, 102, and 104 points, which is a massive improvement for this team. Throughout the season, we would see the Hornets’ opponents breaching the 120+point mark way too often.

In the latest match against the Raptors, Hayward, Ball showed that they are in superb form, opening the clash with 44 points in 12 minutes while limiting the opponents to 24. They were up 27 points at one moment, mostly because of 21 threes sunk.

LaMelo scored 23 points with nine boards and six assists, adding six three-pointers in nine attempts, all that in 31 minutes. Devonte Graham scored 17 off the bench with five threes, Malik Monk had 16, while Scary Terry Rozier added 17.

Gordon Hayward didn’t have to interfere a lot, finishing the night with just nine points in 26 minutes.

Head to Head Games

Hornets defeated the Kings in Sacramento on the last day of February, 127-126, after a dramatic battle. Malik Monk delivered a three-point play with 1.4 seconds to go to give his Charlotte a lead. He had 21 points, LaMelo 24 with 12 dimes, while PJ Washington dropped 42.

On the other side, Buddy Hield scored 30, Harrison Barnes 28, Marvin Bagley 24 and Fox 20.

Prediction

We won’t waste too much of your time while explaining why to go with the Hornets here. They have a much better team than the Kings, who are still wandering around the bottom of the West. This unit has been playing together for quite some time, yet without making any kind of improvement. Kings have a lot of potentials, but at the moment, they are just one mediocre side, unable to resist the opponents once playing away from home. Because of all that, our money here is on the Hornets to win.

 

If you like our preview, here is the link to one more – Knicks vs Nets