Can the struggling Sacramento Kings extend their surprising Saturday road-winning streak against a Miami Heat team playing a back-to-back? Betting insights inside.
Would you believe it, if someone told you that the Sacramento Kings - yes, those Sacramento Kings - have a serious case of ‘Saturday Night Fever’?
Well, believe it.
For as woeful as the Kings (5-17) have been this NBA season — especially on the road, where Sacramento is 2-10 and hasn’t won since Nov. 24 at Golden State - Sacramento, one of the Western Conference’s bottom-feeders and reportedly open for plenty of trade business, will be looking to keep a short, but quirky road trend alive.
They meet up with the Heat (14-9) at Kaseya Center, Saturday night in Miami, Florida for an 8:00 pm (ET) tip-off.
Wait .. for .. it ..
The Kings are 2-0 in Saturday night road games, defeating the Denver Nuggets two Saturdays ago, in addition to the Milwaukee Bucks, Nov. 1.
Can Sacramento, a (+1, -110) road underdog against the Heat, make it three in a row on Saturday nights?
The Heat is (-1, -110) with an over/under total of 219.5 points (o -116, u -109). But despite their Saturday night road moves and the short line in this spot, the odds seem stacked against the Kings, who are 2-10 away from home and 2-8 overall in their last 10 games.
The Kings lost their first three road games of the season before picking up a narrow victory over the Bucks.
However, Sacramento dropped another five road games — before defeating the Nuggets as +11.5 underdogs on Nov. 22.
But the Kings, just 1-4 in their last five games, have, for the most part, been non-competitive in a majority of their road games, which includes a 40-point loss to the Suns in Phoenix.
The Kings, who have allowed 120 points or more in several recent road games, are coming off a 121-95 loss to the Houston Rockets, Wednesday night. Despite being down a point at the half, Sacramento’s second half issues persist.
Maxine Raynuad — a recent bright spot for a team stuck in mud — scored 25 points vs. the Rockets.
Miami, on a two-game losing streak after drilling 24 three-pointers in a blowout victory over Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, is 2-3 in their last five games.
Star forward Zach LaVine (19.8 ppg in 20 starts) and veteran guard Russell Westbrook (7.0 rpg, 6.9 app) lead the Kings offense. Forward Domantas Sabonis (torn meniscus in left knee) is out, and guard Dennis Schroder (hip) did not play against the Rockets on Wednesday.
This could be the classic ‘buy low’ spot with Sacramento, off since Thursday, while Miami, struggling a bit lately, is playing a back-to-back - after meeting up with a very good Magic squad on Friday night.
Now, in a quick turnaround they face the lowly Kings, who, by the way, are 2-1 against the spread in their last three head-to-head meetings vs. the Heat.
The tight line also reflects a similarity in rosters, especially with Tyler Herro (toe irritation) and Norman Powell (ankle sprain), who through Wednesday night lead the Heat with 25.0 points per game, in-limbo.
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