Kings vs Thunder NBA Handicapping
With the Sacramento Kings it’s not always about basketball, which seems a little odd. But over the last few years the focus has been on the owners (the Maloof Brothers) or the gasoline-and-fire personality of angry big man DeMarcus Cousins.
Sacramento Kings (7-14) at Oklahoma City Thunder (18-4)
Friday, Dec. 14
Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City
8 p.m. EST
Spread: Thunder -13 at Bovada
O/U: Spurs 205.5
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Or a new arena. Or a move, perhaps all the way across the country to Virginia Beach. Anything but hoops.
We may never reach get a grasp on how good (or bad) this team is because of the other issues that demand attention, but it’s clear that what the team is doing now isn’t working.
Since the 2007-08 season, when Kevin Martin and Ron Artest gave the team some credibility on the way to a 38-44 record, Sacramento has struggled to win even one game out of every three they suit up for.
This year’s 7-14 club, which takes on the league-best Oklahoma City Thunder tonight in a train wreck in the making, is not much different from any Kings club over the past half-decade. Coach Keith Smart’s crew lost its first three games and immediately fell into last place in the Pacific Division. [ad-6571516]
Cousins (17 points, 10 rebounds a game) can keep them in games when his head in on straight and he’s not serving a suspension for this or that, Tyreke Evans is a decent PG but is shoot-first, and Marcus Thornton (13 ppg) is OK at the 2. Beyond that, the Kings are a glorified D-League entry.
But the schedule is the schedule, and the Kings will have at it tonight in Oklahoma City in a game that will be played only to entertain the locals and fulfill NBA requirements.
The Thunder have won 9 straight since a hiccup in Boston, taking advantage of a soft spot in the schedule and two losses by the Spurs to assemble the best record in the NBA.
THE PICK: OKC will be able to name its score in this one, especially if Thorton (who missed the Kings’ last game due an illness in his family) doesn’t play.
The Thunder have won their last 9 by an average of just about 15 points, and so far bettors by a 2-1 margin have their money on OKC to cover.
Sacramento has never won in OKC and is just 1-8 on the road this season (Portland), so it’s just a question of how long the Thunder keep Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in the game before emptying the bench. OKC -13 is the play.
