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The Sacramento Kings continue their playoff push as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night at the Target Center in Minnesota.
Holding Their Own
The Sacramento Kings are 1-2 in their current road trip but they held their own in each of those three games. The Kings lost by just two points each to the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors and then they upset the Oklahoma City Thunder in OKC last Saturday night. Sacramento hopes to continue with their level of play as they travel to Minnesota on Monday night to resume their hunt for a playoff spot. The Kings are currently one-game off 8th place in the West.
Buddy Hield is playing his best season ever and is leading the Kings in scoring with 20.7 points per game. Second-year man De’Aaron Fox is also having a much-improved season with 17.2 points, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Willie Cauley Stein leads the team in rebounds with 8.5 boards per game while also scoring 12.6 points per game. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Marvin Bagley III are providing valuable scoring support at 14.8 and 13.7 points per game, respectively.
The Kings rank 9th in the league in team scoring at 113.7 points per game and they are also 9th in assists with 25.6 dimes per contest. Sacramento is the 16th best rebounding team in the NBA with 45.3 boards per outing. The Kings have the fifth worst scoring defense in the league, allowing 114.8 points per game/
Kings
+135
Timberwolves
-155
Odds from bet365 as of 2/25/19
Missing KAT
After the Timberwolves’ loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last Saturday, Andrew Wiggins said that the team missed Karl Anthony Towns who sat his second straight games with a concussion. And Wiggins was probably correct because Towns had never missed a regular season game before in his entire NBA career. The Wolves could miss him for a third straight game on Monday when the Kings visit them at the Target Center.
Towns is averaging 23.1 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. Wiggins is contributing 17.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game for Minnesota while Derrick Rose has resurrected his career with 18.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game off the bench. Jeff Teague leads the team with 8.1 assists while also scoring 11.9 points per game this season.
Minnesota is in the middle of the pack at #15 in team scoring with 112.2 points per game. The Wolves are ranked 16th in passing with 24.6 assists per game and they are also 19th off the glass with 44.9 rebounds per contest. The Timberwolves have the 19th best scoring defense in the league at 112.1 points per game allowed.
Who Wins?
Sacramento is 6-4 SU in its last 10 games played and the Kings are 1-3 SU in their last four road games. Minnesota is 4-6 SU in its last 10 games played and the Timberwolves are 3-2 SU in their last five home games. Head to head, the Wolves are 4-2 SU in their last six meetings against the Kings.
The Kings have played very well lately and most notably in their last three games. They gave the Nuggets and Warriors all they could handle and lost by just one possession to both teams. Then they bounced back with a huge road win over the streaking OKC Thunder. Buddy Hield has been lights out lately and he should continue to wax hot against the Timberwolves. Marvin Bagley III is coming off two double-doubles and he is averaging 22.5 points over his last four games played.
Karl Anthony Towns is still in the NBA Protocol after suffering a concussion in a vehicular accident last Thursday. If he is a no go, then Minnesota is going to have problems keeping up with the high-scoring Kings. Towns had never missed a game in his NBA career prior to this incident and Minnesota is now 1-1 without their main man.
Minnesota is 19-10 SU at home this season while the Kings are just 12-17 SU on the road. But Sacramento’s recent form is showing that they can keep up with the Nuggets, Warriors and Thunder in consecutive games. That bunch of young kids is for real.
I’m picking the Sacramento Kings to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on 2/25/19.
Other Bets To Make
Sacramento is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Kings are 3-1 ATS in their previous four road games. Minnesota is 5-5 ATS in its last 10 games played and the Timberwolves are 2-3 ATS in their last five home games. Head to head, the Kings are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Timberwolves.
Kings
+3 (-110)
Timberwolves
-3 (-110)
Odds from bet365 as of 2/25/19
Sacramento is 4-0 ATS in their last four games against the Western Conference. The Kings are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 5-0 ATS in their last five games overall. The Timberwolves are 1-4 ATS in their last five games after allowing more than 125 points in their previous game, 2-6 ATS in their last eight games after a straight up loss and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games played at home. Without KAT, this one’s a win for the Kings but even if Towns does suit up, I still like the way Sacramento is playing lately. The win against OKC showed character.
Prediction: Kings
The under is 4-5-1 in the last 10 games played by the Kings. The over is 2-1-1 in Sacramento’s last five road games played. The total has gone over in seven out of the last 10 games played by Minnesota and the over is 3-2 in the Timberwolves’ last five home games played. Head to head, the over is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings between the Kings and Wolves.
Kings
O 236.5 (-110)
Timberwolves
U 236.5 (-110)
Odds from bet365 as of 2/25/19
The over is 11-4 in the Kings’ last 15 games against opponents with a winning home record and the over is also 19-7 in their last 26 games against the Southwest Division. The total has gone over in 11 out of the last 15 games played by Minnesota and the over is 4-0 in the Wolves’ last four games against Western Conference teams. Sacramento is a Top 10 offensive team which has averaged 117.2 points per game in their previous nine games played. Both teams don’t have elite defenses and their offense is better than their defense. With or without Towns, I think these teams hit the over.
Prediction: Over
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