NBA Basement Battle Kings @ Blazers
The Sacramento Kings (7-18 SU, 12-13 ATS), under new leadership, go after another win on Tuesday night as they visit the Portland Trail Blazers (15-10 SU, 11-14 ATS) in NBA pro basketball sports betting action that is scheduled to tip off at 10 PM ET at the Rose Garden in Portland, OR.
BetUS NBA Basketball Betting Odds: PORTLAND -11.5, Total 198
Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* SAC has covered three of its last nine games
* SAC has lost 10 of its last 12 games SU
* SAC has covered four of its last five road games
* SAC has lost 11 of its last 13 road games SU
* SAC has played eight of its last nine road games OVER the total
* PORT has lost its last seven games ATS
* PORT has lost four of its last five games SU
* PORT has won 14 of its last 21 games SU
* PORT has played nine of its last 12 games UNDER the total
* PORT has covered nine of its last 13 home games
* PORT has won 10 of its last 12 home games SU
* PORT has played five of its last seven home games UNDER the total
Also…
* SAC has covered six of the last seven meetings
* Fifteen of the last 23 meetings have gone OVER the total
* Six of the last eight meetings have gone UNDER the total
* SAC has covered five of the last six meetings as the road team
* Four of the last five meetings in Portland have gone UNDER the total
* SAC has had the shooting edge in four of the last five meetings
* PORT has had the rebounding edge in eight of the last nine meetings
* SAC has made more three-pointers in four of the last six meetings
Things have been pretty wild around the Sacramento camp lately. Reggie Theus, the head coach who was handcuffed almost from the start with key injuries, was fired in a move that had been rumored for quite a while. Taking the job on an interim basis was assistant Kenny Natt who has been around for a while as an NBA aide, minor league coach and scout, and reached the NBA Finals three times with Cleveland and Utah. He’s bringing a simple approach to the job and trying to emphasize defense.
Natt could have used the services of his brother Calvin, who was an outstanding NBA player, but he’ll have to make do with the current Kings roster which is without scoring leader Kevin Martin who is still sitting out with his ankle problems. He’s played only one game since November 11. The team did respond to Natt in his debut, beating Minnesota 118-103 last night as they held the T-Wolves to 42% shooting while converting at 51% themselves. Listen to some of the players talk, the cloud that had been hanging over Theus’ head was a constant distraction.
I don’t know if the Kings can shoot over 50% again and they had better improve on their five offensive rebounds from Monday night. Portland has a scheduling advantage with three days off coming into this game and certainly won’t be looking past Sacramento, which pushed them to the brink in a 91-90 win on November 24.
But this is a big number to lay when you haven’t covered in your last seven games. The newfound enthusiasm on Sacramento’s part, which is bound to fizzle out sooner or later, might extend itself to the finale of the back-to-back. Natt is spreading out the minutes pretty evenly, EIGHT of his players scored in double figures last night. Let’s see how his new philosophy works. We’ll grab the points with Sacramento, the 11.5-point underdog in the BetUS Sportsbook NBA pro basketball betting odds.
