Sacramento Kings vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, Preview, and Odds
Sacramento (8-6 SU, 8-6 ATS) travels to the Target Center to face Minnesota (11-3 SU, 8-6 ATS) on Friday night at 8pmET.
This will be the first meeting between these Western Conference teams this season.
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Kings lose twice to New Orleans
The Kings had won six straight games and everything seemed to be on track before they met New Orleans for two straight games on the road on Monday and Wednesday. D'Aaron Fox had returned from and injury and Sacramento was cooking. But the Pels annihilated the Kings 129-93 on Monday and 117-112 on Wednesday.
In their last loss, Fox scored 26, while Domantas Sabonis added 23 and Harrison Barnes chipped in with 22. The King struggled on the boards (-10) and allowed New Orleans to shoot 47% from the field. They also turned the ball over 15 times.
One play the Kings miss right now is Keegan Murray, who was averaging 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. He missed the last game and is listed out on Friday with a back injury. Fox has been fantastic early on with 29.2 points and 5.3 assists, while Sabonis adds 20.2 points, 12.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists.
Sacramento plays at a high tempo and that can be good on the offensive end (114.9ppg), but they struggle to shoot the three (34.4%). On defense, they rank 20th in points per game allowed (115.6ppg), 23rd in FG defense (48.9%) and 20th in 3-point defense (36.9%).
It migth be their year
Minnesota didn't seem to mesh last year when Rudy Gobert arrived, but injuries also seemed to keep them from being a contender. Now, the T-Wolves have won three straight and 11 of their last 14 games. On Wednesday, they were fortunate that Joel Embiid sat out so Minnesota and took care of business 112-99 at home. Anthony Edwards led the way with 31 points with six boards and six assists. Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and 11 boards.
One negative has been the loss of wing Jaden McDaniels (ankle). Nickeil Alexander-Walker took his place and scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds and four assists. McDaniels is out until late December with an ankle injury.
Edwards leads the team with 26.1 points per game with 5.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists on 46.7% shooting (38.9% 3pt). Towns adds 21.6 points and 8.9 rebounds with 49.3% FG shooting (37.5% 3pt).
Defensively, Minnesota is fantastic this season, allowing just 105.8 points per game (2nd), 43% shooting (1st) and 32.3% (2nd) from the three-point line.
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Best Bets for this Game
Full-Game Side Bet
Insiders Status:
Rating:
I like this Sacramento team a lot, but they have several issues in this game. The biggest is that they have been on the road since Nov. 15, so this will be their sixth game in the last nine days. Murray is a big loss to their starting unit and forces the Kings to start Chris Duarte, who is a less talented player. The T-Wolves have the size to keep Sabonis off the boards led by KAT and Rudy Gobert. Those two are finally playing well together and then you add Naz Reid, and he's one of the best big men off the bench in this league.
Prediction: Minnesota -3.5
Full-Game Total Pick
Insiders Status:
Rating:
Minnesota ranks 19th in pace of play according to DunksandThrees.com. They play two centers in Gobert and Towns, so they don't want to get into a run-and-gun contest with the speedier Kings. Minnesota held the Knicks, Sixers, New Orleans and Utah to 101 points or less in four of their last five home games. Sacramento has gone under in three straight games and four of their last five.
Prediction: Under
Ben has been a sports writer for over 35 years, dabbling in college and pro basketball, college and pro football, baseball, college lacrosse, minor league baseball and even college gymnastics. He's also been involved in the gaming industry for nearly 30 years and has been looking to beat the books since he was 13! Ben has had great success in handicapping college football, the NFL, college basketball, the NBA and MLB for 27+ years. His Twitter handle is @BenHayesWAW
