8:10 pm
October 29

Kings @ Pelicans

Who will WIN this matchup?

Sacramento Kings (2-2)

@ New Orleans Pelicans (1-4)

 

Current odds:

Sacramento Kings: (-125)

New Orleans Pelicans: (+105)

 

• The line for this game is Kings by 1.5 points.

• The Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans are both stressing game-to-game improvement as they try to grow into playoff contenders. The Kings, who claimed an encouraging last-second victory at Phoenix on Wednesday, travel Friday to face the Pelicans. New Orleans has played better in splitting its last two games after starting the season 0-3.

• The fact that the Kings needed a basket at the buzzer after holding a 13-point fourth-quarter lead illustrated Walton’s point that the team still has a ways to go. However, beating the defending Western Conference champions on the road was a good sign for an organization that has a string of 15 consecutive losing seasons.

• The victory came in the wake of losses to Utah and Golden State after Sacramento held second-half leads. Former Pelican Buddy Hield led the Kings with 26 points in 27 minutes off the bench as the team began a four-game road trip.

• New Orleans also had an uneven performance Wednesday night, falling to the visiting Atlanta Hawks 102-99. The Pelicans led by as many as 16 points and were tied with a minute left. But John Collins’ dunk gave the Hawks the lead for good with 55.3 seconds left. Rookie Herb Jones missed an opportunity to tie the score when he made one of two free throws, and Brandon Ingram missed a potential go-ahead jumper with 3.5 seconds left. Still, taking an Eastern Conference finalist from last season to the wire after getting their first victory of the season two nights earlier at Minnesota was encouraging.

• Guard Devonte’ Graham, who scored a team-high 21 points, was asked if New Orleans was showing improvement over the last two games. But New Orleans was out-rebounded by Atlanta 55-44, giving up 21 offensive rebounds.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Sacramento Kings
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