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The Houston Rockets look to keep hot as they travel to California for a Tuesday showdown with the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Back-To-Back MVP?
Reigning NBA MVP James Harden is making a strong case for a second straight MVP season. The league’s top scorer is coming off the 5th 50-point of his career. To emphasize how huge that is, the rest of the NBA has a combined 9 other 50-point triple doubles in league history. With Harden soaring, the Rockets have been winning as Houston has firmly grabbed the 3rd seed in the East with just five games left to play.
Harden is averaging 36.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game for the Rockets. Clint Capela is having a double-double season with 16.6 points, 12.6 rebounds and a team-best 1.5 blocks per game. Chris Paul is also having a good season with 15.6 points and 8.1 assists per game. Eric Gordon is contributing 16.2 points while Austin Rivers is helping out on the scoring load with 8.8 points per game.
The Rockets are ranked 12th in the league in team scoring at 112.9 points per game. Houston is 28th in the passing department with 20.9 assists per game and the Rockets are also have the third lowest rebounding average in the entire NBA at 41.8 boards grabbed per outing. Houston has the 11th best scoring defense among 30 NBA teams at 109.4 opponent points per game allowed.
Rockets
-220
Kings
+190
Odds from Betonline.ag as of 4/02/19
Best Season In Years
The Sacramento Kings are whipping boys no more. The Kings are having their best season in years at 38-39 with still five games left to play. Buddy Hield has emerged as the team leader while De’Aaron Fox showed a vast improvement from his rookie season. Sacramento’s young core has developed fast this season yet despite all their improvements, the team still missed the playoff bus.
Hield leads the Sacramento attack with 21.0 points to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Fox is having a splending sophomore season with 17.5 points, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Bogdan Bogdanovic is having a great year with 14.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Rookie Marvin Bagley is also putting up 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while Willie Cauley-Stein leads the team with 8.5 rebounds while also scoring 12.2 points. Veteran Harrison Barnes is also adding 14.5 points for Sacramento.
Sacramento is the 9th highest-scoring team in the league at 114.1 points per game. The Kings are ranked 11th in the passing game with 25.5 assists per contest and they are also 14th off the glass with an average of 45.6 boards per outing . However, the young Kings have the 5th worst scoring defense in the entire league at 114.7 opponent points per game allowed.
Who Wins?
Houston is 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played. The Rockets are 2-2 SU in their last four games played on the road. Sacramento is 5-5 SU in their last 10 games played. The Kings are 3-1 SU in their last four games played at home. Head to head, the Rockets are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games played against the Kings. Houston is also 7-3 in their last 10 road games against Sacramento.
The Rockets are closing out their season strong and they have climbed all the way to the #3 spot in the West after playing the second best defense since the All-Star break. In fact the Rockets are coming off their best defensive effort of the season, holding the 2nd ranked Denver Nuggets to just 85 points two games ago.
Sacramento has shown a lot of improvement this season. Buddy Hield has emerged as a star in Sac-Town while the rest of the young team has shown plenty of promise. Indeed Sacramento has a lot to build on in the offseason. This team is growing in the right direction and it will only be a matter of time when get back to the postseason.
First things first though as we need to finish this season. Houston is 20-18 SU on the road while Sacramento is 23-15 SU at home. The Kings though are out of the playoffs are are merely playing spoilers here. The Rockets are still hoping to catch the Nuggets at #2 and are on a roll right now. I’m picking the Houston Rockets to beat the Sacramento Kings on 4/2/19.
Other Bets To Make
The Rockets are 5-4-1 ATS in their last 10 games played. Houston is 2-2 ATS in their last four games away from home. The Kings are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games overall and Sacramento is 2-2 ATS in their last four games played at home. Head to head, the Rockets are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games against the Thunder. However, the Kings are 4-2 ATS in their last six meetings in Sacramento.
Rockets
-5 (-110)
Kings
-5 (-110)
Odds from Betonline.ag as of 4/02/19
Houston is 3-0-1 ATS in their last four games against the Western Conference, 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games and 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games overall. Sacramento is 13-5-1 ATS in their last 19 games played at home, 27-13-1 ATS in their last 41 games when playing on one day rest and 1-4 ATS in their last five Tuesday games. The Rockets have won their last five game by a winning margin of 10.6 points per game and they are 22-10 ATS in their last 32 games against the Kings. I expect Houston to stay aggressive and hot as they try to lock 3rd place in the West and possibly chase 2nd. Prediction: Rockets
The total has gone under in nine out of the last 10 games played by the Rockets. The under is 3-1 in Houston’s last four games played at home. The under is 5-4-1 in the last 10 games played by Sacramento. The total has gone under in two out of the last four home games hosted by the Kings. Head to head, the under is 6-4 in the last 10 games between the Rockets and Kings. The under is also 4-2 in the last six head to head meetings played in Oklahoma City.
Rockets
O 227 -110
Kings
U 227 -110
Odds from Betonline.ag as of 4/02/19
The under is 5-2 in Sacramento’s last seven games overall and the total has gone under in 18 out of the Rockets’ last 26 games overall. The Rockets have the 2nd best defense since the All-Star break, allowing just 105.3 points per 100 possessions, the reason why the under is 9-1 in their last 10 games played. The Kings have breached 227 points just twice in their last seven games played. I think 227 is too high given how the Rockets have put emphasis on defense. Prediction: Under 227
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