NBA Betting Picks: Los Angeles Clippers at Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings are nowhere near the apex of the franchise when they were fighting Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers tooth and nail for Western Conference supremacy. Then again, they’re also nowhere near their nadir of recent years when the once proud franchise became a laughing stock. The Kings enter their nationally televised matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers playing .500 ball on the season (10-10) which is impressive for a team that finished 28 games under the ‘Mendoza Line’ a year ago. The Kings have lost two straight, last playing on Sunday when they lost at home to the Utah Jazz. That defeat was ‘payback’ for Sacramento’s solid win over the Jazz four days earlier when the Kings prevailed 119-110 in Salt Lake City as +9.5 underdogs.

The Los Angeles Clippers are one of the league’s hottest teams having won 10 of their last 12 games going 9-3 against the spread. This run combined with the poor play of the Golden State Warriors in early November has vaulted the Clippers into a first place tie in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has played well in this stretch but there’s still some question about how good they really are. They’ve beaten a lot of bad teams lately with victories over bottom feeders like Brooklyn, Atlanta and Phoenix. To be fair, they’ve picked up some victories against teams with winning records but it remains questionable whether the Clippers are a team that will be able to compete with the Western Conference pack leaders as the season progresses.

Los Angeles has won and covered three straight in the series but scheduling is a concern. Sacramento has been idle since Sunday while the Clippers played last night at home against Phoenix. Los Angeles is 1-1 SU/ATS this year in the second of back to back games but will likely encounter a highly motivated Sacramento team making a rare appearance on national TV. The Clippers are 10-0 SU/9-1 ATS as a favorite this season and are likely due for a flat spot in this role. Sacramento starting to re-establish some swagger at home with a 6-3 ATS record to date this year. Kings offense is ridiculously well balanced with six players averaging in double figures (almost 7 with Iman Shumpert averaging 9.9 PPG). Buddy Heild leads the team in scoring (18.8 PPG) and De’Aaron Fox adds 7.5 assists per game. They might be the most underrated backcourt in the NBA and are only going to get better.

BET SACRAMENTO KINGS +2 OVER LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS