Sacramento Kings vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Odds, Preview, and Prediction

by Nick Galaida (nickgalaida) Last Updated 2022-02-18 14:36:37

Kings vs. Cavaliers Odds

Tonight, the Sacramento Kings and the surging Cleveland Cavaliers will battle at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Both teams will be playing the latter-half of a back-to-back set this evening. Sacramento did not land in Cleveland until after midnight this morning, meaning that the team was likely not at their hotel until after 1:00 am local time. Cleveland easily handled the Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday, which allowed Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff to keep the minutes relatively low for all of his key players. Oddsmakers are anticipating a Wine and Gold victory in this matchup, pricing the Cavaliers as 6.5-point home favorites on the spread at online sportsbooks.

Now, let’s take a closer look at Kings vs. Cavaliers odds before making our pick.

Kings

In nine games since firing Luke Walton, the Kings are 5-4, but they still rank only 19th in Net Rating during that stretch of action. Moreover, Sacramento’s five wins have come against the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers (twice), and the Orlando Magic–not exactly the creme de la creme of the NBA landscape.

On top of the aforementioned travel challenges ahead of tonight’s tip-off, Sacramento is coming off of a brutal loss to the Charlotte Hornets, in which De’Aaron Fox missed both free throws with a chance to win the game in the closing seconds. In the losing effort, Fox played 34 minutes, Tyrese Haliburton played 36 minutes, and Buddy Hield played 31 minutes. Sacramento and Charlotte combined to shoot 188 shots last night in one of the quickest paced games of the entire season. Having no rest between last night’s track meet and today’s game could be a problem for this group. The Kings have only one win this season when traveling for the latter-half of a back-to-back, which was a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, who were missing Brandon Ingram.

Cavaliers

In Cleveland’s last eight games, they are outscoring their opponents by 12.8 points per 100 possessions–ranking 2nd in Net Rating only to the Utah Jazz. In that span, the Cavaliers have played the Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, and Minnesota Timberwolves, with the Orlando Magic being the only extremely weak opponent.

Per Cleaning the Glass, the Cavaliers rank in the 93rd percentile in defensive efficiency when Evan Mobley is on the floor this year. Since Mobley returned from the injured list, Cleveland is 6-2, having lost to the Jazz by one point and the Bucks by eight points. Since the beginning of November, Cleveland is 12-4 overall when Mobley is on the court.

Prediction

The Cavaliers are yet to lose to a team with a losing record this year, having won their first eight games against such opponents by an average of 12.6 points, per Brayden Todd. Each of Cleveland’s last six wins have come by 13 or more points. Bettors should not shy away from trusting this group to cover what may seem to be a large number this evening against the Kings.

On the futures market, bettors should purchase stock in Cleveland as well. Only the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns have a better defensive rating this season than the Cavaliers. At minimum, this is a roster that should find itself in the postseason. If Cleveland earns a playoff berth, a 125:1 ticket becomes a guaranteed profit for those with the ability to hedge in each round.

Picks

• Cavaliers (-6.5) vs. Kings
• Cavaliers to make postseason (+190, DraftKings)
• Cavaliers to win the Eastern Conference (+12500, BetMGM)

Image Credit: Imagn