The New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings duke it out at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday night.
The New Orleans Pelicans started the season well, but they’ve gone ice-cold with five straight losses after falling to the Lakers in a 112-95 blowout on Friday. Zion Williamson led the team with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, Brandon Ingram added 20 points with five assists while JJ Redick chipped in with 12 points off the bench. As a team, the Pelicans shot 47 percent from the field and nine of 29 from the 3-point line as they got off to a nice lead by holding the Lakers to just 20 points in the first quarter, only to get blown out in the second half where they managed just 37 points.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings have shown glimpses of their potential this season, but it hasn’t translated to many wins as they’ve lost eight of their first 13 games and they will be hoping to bounce back after Friday’s 138-100 loss to the Clippers. Marvin Bagley led the team with 20 points on eight of 12 shooting, Richaun Holmes added 17 points while Harrison Barnes and De’Aaron Fox each scored 14 points. As a team, the Kings shot 47 percent from the field and eight of 26 from the 3-point line, but their defense was once again a major issue as they allowed 69 points in the first half before getting blown out in the third quarter by 37-16. It just looked all too easy for the Clippers to get any shot they wanted as the Kings looked to run out of ideas at times.
Looking at the betting trends, the Pelicans are 5-1 ATS in their last six games following a loss of more than 10 points, 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games against a team with a losing record and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games. The Kings are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games following a double-digit loss at home, 1-5 ATS in their last six home games and 1-7 ATS in their last eight games overall.
Head to head, the over is 6-1 in the last seven meetings overall and the Pelicans are 10-21-1 ATS in the last 32 meetings in Sacramento.
The Pelicans will be happy that they were able to get Williamson back on the court in their last game as he just provides so much on both ends of the floor, but they’ve been in a rut and their confidence must be low after losing to both LA teams. The Kings have been shaky so far and you just don’t know what type of response you’re going to see from them after their 38-point loss to the Clippers. It’s hard to pick between these two teams, but the Kings are 1-7 ATS in their last eight games overall, so I’m going with the Pelicans to snap out of their funk here.