NBA Basketball Betting – Sacramento Kings at Minnesota Timberwolves
Two teams who are in rebuilding mode will tangle on Wednesday night as the Sacramento Kings of the Pacific Division take on the Minnesota Timberwolves of the Northwest Division in the NBA basketball season opener for both teams, scheduled to tip off at 8 PM ET at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
BetUS NBA Basketball Betting Odds: MINNESOTA -5.5, Total 202.5
Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* SAC has covered four of its last five games
* SAC has lost four of its last six games SU
* SAC has covered four of its last five road games
* SAC is 5-9-1 ATS in its last 15 road games
* SAC has lost 11 of its last 14 road games SU
* SAC has played its last five road games OVER the total
* MINN has covered four of its last six games
* MINN has lost seven of its last ten games SU
* MINN has played eight of its last 11 games OVER the total
* MINN has played five of its last six home games OVER the total
Also….
* MINN has won 10 of the last 15 meetings SU
* Seven of the last ten meetings have gone UNDER the total
* MINN has covered 17 of the last 25 meetings as the home team
* MINN has won 19 of the last 25 meetings SU as the home team
* Seven of the last ten meetings in Minneapolis have gone UNDER the total
We’re anticipating that things might be a little bumpy in Sacramento, at least at the start. That’s because the Kings are now beginning the season minus two of the stars they had for at least a time last season. Mike Bibby was traded off to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for reserves, while Ron Artest has left to join up with the Houston Rockets. If you recall, the Kings had some injury problems at the start of last season, as Bibby and Artest were out of the lineup, and the result was a very slow start, as Sacramento lost nine of its first 13 games. Reggie Theus had to be commended for the way he kept the team together essentially with a bunch of inexperienced role players, and people like Francisco Garcia and John Salmons (12.5 ppg) became very serviceable people for him.
But it is clear that the focal point of this team is shooting guard Kevin Martin, the fifth-year player out of Western Carolina, who was sixth in the league with 23.7 points per contest last year. This season he is probably going to have to shoulder a lot more of the scoring load, and early on he won’t be getting support from Garcia, who is out of action with a strained calf, or center Brad Miller, who will not play until November 7 because he is under suspension from the NBA for testing positive for marijuana a third time.
Minnesota, which committed to a rebuilding project in the last off-season when they traded Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics, made a bold move around draft time by giving up rights to O.J. Mayo in exchange for Kevin Love, the undersized center from UCLA. How it is going to work out with Love and Al Jefferson (21 ppg, 11.1 rpg) up front, with neither having ideal NBA center size, remains to be seen. But there are some component parts here. Mike Miller (16.4 ppg) should add some outside offense and take pressure off Jefferson. And fellow Florida alum Corey Brewer might be the right guy to shadow Martin. If he is successful, and Sacramento has to look elsewhere for its offensive production, it could be a long night for the Kings.
We will lay the points with the T-Wolves, the 5.5-point favorite in the BetUS NBA odds.
