We’re previewing an East vs West battle on the NBA slate tonight as the Sacramento Kings (39-28) make the trip to Scotiabank Arena, Toronto to take on the Toronto Raptors (23-45). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
After recording three wins over their last four outings, the Kings are hoping to maintain their lead ahead of the closing Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference standings. As for the Raptors, they enter the matchup on the back of seven successive defeats.
Our best bet is coming up below after we analyze the game in full. BetMGM have Sacramento as 11.5-point favorites ahead of the clash, whilst the game total is set at O/U 233.5.
Last Time Out
The Kings are just one game ahead of the Mavericks in sixth-place in the conference, and they will be eager to secure the win tonight since Dallas have won six of their last seven, including a 113-107 win over the San Antonio Spurs last night. Nevertheless, Sacramento aren’t in bad shape themselves, winning five of their last seven.
They needed overtime to beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, but a game-high 28 points from Malik Monk, and double-doubles from Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray ensured a 121-111 triumph. That stopped Sacramento from losing two on the spin after they suffered a 98-91 loss at home to the red-hot New York Knicks last Saturday.
Life has been pretty glum for the Raptors this season who are preparing for the next campaign already. They have won just one of their last 10 games, and are hoping to snap a seven-game losing streak tonight. Toronto were comfortably beaten 111-96 on the road to the Orlando Magic last time out.
With the majority of their starters out due to injury as well, there’s not much hope for the Raptors at the moment. They have dropped their last two in a row on their own court too, with an overall home record on the season of just 13-20.
Injuries & Team News
Guard Kevin Huerter has been ruled out of the game tonight for Sacramento due to a shoulder injury, but forward Sasha Vezenkov has been upgraded to questionable. He has been missing for almost six weeks. Trey Lyles (knee) remains sidelined.
Toronto’s roster has quickly been decimated over the past few weeks with starters RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl and Immanuel Quickley all ruled out. Further depth options D.J. Carton and Chris Boucher are both unavailable as well.
Head-to-Head
In what was a highly entertaining affair back at the start of the year, the Kings ran out 135-130 victors over the Raptors at Golden 1 Center. Fox and Sabonis led their team to the win, putting up 24 points each. The latter also recorded a triple-double. Toronto still had both Dennis Schröder and Pascal Siakam on the roster back then who have since been traded.
Betting Trends & Stats
A bottom ten defense will have to try and contain a top ten offense tonight. The Raptors have leaked plenty of points this season, allowing 118.0 points per game (ppg). Meanwhile, the Kings have excelled offensively, putting up the eighth-most ppg in the league (118.0).
However, Sacramento’s offensive average over their last five has dropped to 113.0 ppg, but they have still managed to reach 120 points in three of their last five games. Toronto have struggled to put up points of late, recording an average of 108.0 ppg over their last five.
The road team has been pretty average against the spread (ATS) this season, covering in just 50% of all games. Nevertheless, they have the fourth-best record ATS on the road across the NBA (20-13-1), whilst they have covered in a respectable 57.1% of matchups as road favorites.
Not only have the Raptors been poor of late, but they have struggled to cover the spread too, going 2-8 ATS over their last 10. Toronto has covered in less than 40% of their home games this season, and they are 5-11-0 ATS as home underdogs.
Key Players
Monk will be keen to keep up his strong performances here for the visitors after shooting 10 of 19 from the field against the Grizzlies. Leading points scorer Fox (26.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists) will be tough to contain, whilst Sabonis is a triple-double machine, leading the league with 23 on the season.
The hosts have all of their star players out for tonight, meaning their chances of a victory are even slimmer. However, Jordan Nwora put up a team-high 18 points in the last matchup against Orlando, and has hit double figures in his last three consecutive games. Meanwhile, guard Gary Trent Jr. has averaged 23.0 ppg over his last five outings.
Best Bet
An 11.5-point spread is relatively sizable for the Kings to cover, especially as the road team. However, Toronto has been struggling even with their star players out on the court, and four of their starters are out for this one. They simply don’t have the quality to keep up with the visitors tonight.
Sacramento needs to keep winning in order to secure their spot in the playoffs, and they won’t be letting up against a depleted Raptors team tonight. We expect the Kings to win this one comfortably, and with no value left on the money line, we’re backing them to cover the spread.
Sacramento Kings -11.5 (-105 with BetMGM)
