NBA Picks: Denver Nuggets at Sacramento Kings
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Sacramento Kings get ready to host the Denver Nuggets tonight at ARCO Arena. These two teams faced off at Denver on New Year’s Day, and the Nuggets rolled the Kings 104-86. Denver however is coming off a disappointing 106-93 loss at the Clippers last night, snapping a four game winning streak. The Kings went on to beat the Suns at home 94-89 on Sunday, and then lost a close one to the Hawks 108-102. Despite how bad the Nuggets beat the Kings just a few days ago, our NBA spreads have the Nuggets favored by just 4.5-points over the Kings.
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In the first meeting between these two teams, the Nuggets got a big night from Chauncey Billups, who had 32 points and five assists. Carmelo Anthony had 16 points and 10 rebounds, but shot just 6-22 from the field. Anthony scored 31 points and Billups had 25 last night against the Clippers, but the Nuggets as a team shot just 37.5% from the field.
The Nuggets didn’t do a very good job of spreading the ball around last night, as they had just 16 assists, and were out hustled on the glass, as the Clippers outrebounded the Nuggets 57-43. Denver got just 15 points from their bench, and could be without backup point guard Ty Lawson tonight, as he had to leave last night’s game with sprained knee.
There is no question the Nuggets are the more talented team, but the question will be how badly do they want to win this game, cause if they come out and play like they did against the Clippers last night, there is a good chance they will get beat.
The Kings continue to struggle to win games, but they are playing better, and a big reason for that is the play of rookie DeMarcus Cousins, who is averaging just over 22 points and right around 10 rebounds over his last four games. Tyreke Evans has also played better lately, averaging 20 points and five assists over his last five games.
Francisco Garcia has also picked up his scoring lately, averaging 14 over his last three games, but the Kings struggle to get consistent play out of the rest of the guys on this team. For the Kings to win tonight, they need to play well defensively and the are going to need a couple guys to step up and have a big night off the bench.
I think you have to take the 4.5 points and bet the Kings tonight. Denver is just 5-11 away from home, they haven’t been all that impressive lately. The Kings have some confidence after how they have played in their last two games, plus they want to get revenge after the Nuggets beat them by 18 on Saturday.
For more help with who to take this season, check out what our exert handicappers have to offer in their daily NBA picks.
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