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The Sacramento Kings will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night in the NBA.
The Kings (10-10, 5-4 home) had a shockingly good start to the season for a team that was dubbed as one of the 3-4 worst in the NBA at the beginning of the year. The Kings started 6-3 playing fast paced basketball based on athleticism and length, but it always seemed unlikely that they can keep up that pace, and indeed they started to slow down. Sacramento is now 4-7 in the last 11 games, and lost two in a row against the Warriors and the Jazz.
The Clippers (14-6, 5-5 away) are probably the feel good story of the NBA right now. Without having any legit stars, but with a good chemistry and a lot of depth, LA has the third best record in the league right now and is topping the Western Conference standings. The Clippers won 8 of their last 9 games (!!), including a routine 16 point victory over the Phoenix Suns last night.
Bet on Kings v Clippers and get your 100% (120 Eur) welcome bonus at LSbet now!Team news: The Kings will be without Koufos and probably Shumpert as well, neither of them being important absences. The Clippers are likely to be without Gortat and Mbah a Moute.
Sacramento`s recent slump doesn`t mean that they will necessarily go completely downhill. It is quite obvious that they are better than people expected them to be, and they will not be one of the worst teams in the league this season. But they won`t be anywhere near the playoffs either – they do not have great quality and they will lose (much) more games than they will win for the remainder of the year.
The Clippers will come into this match as one of the most in form teams in the league and their performances are not a fluke. They might not have a sure fire All Star, but they have a few very, very good players and a ton of depth, with at least 12 guys ready to contribute solid minutes at any time. Doc Rivers is also doing some exceptional coaching this year – even if that`s hard for me to admit, as I don`t rate him very highly and he shockingly refuses to give my guy Milos Teodosic the minutes he deserves.
The Clippers would be more than 3 point favorites here if they weren`t back to back, but that factor doesn`t seem that important coming into this match for two clear reasons.
Firstly the Clippers are arguably the deepest team in the league, having plenty of solid options in their rotation, and secondly their game last night was a rather easy victory, with only two players playing more than 29 minutes. For this reason I think the back to back situation should not impact the odds too much, so I reckon there is some value to be taken here on the visitors.
While the Kings remain a decent team, it is obvious they are declining. The Clippers are in great form and should be able to take care of business in Sacramento. My tip will be the Clippers to cover the 3 point (asian) handicap and I feel comfortable enough to invest 10 units on this one. Prediction: Sacramento Kings – LA Clippers 108 – 120.
Pick: Clippers -3
Odds: 1.96 @ 1xBet
Stake: 10
Possible profit: 9.60
Event date: 30 November
