PREMIUM
3-Game NBA SWEEPER PASS
(NBA) Sacramento vs. San Antonio,
Point Spread: 15.00 | -115.00 Sacramento (Away)
Result: Win
Point Spread: 15.00 | -115.00 Sacramento (Away)
Result: Win
The set-up: The 25-38 Sacramento Kings visit San Antonio to face the 49-13 Spurs. What's the likelihood that the Kings will stand in the way of San Antonio reaching the 50-win plateau for the 18th consecutive season? Here's hint. It's a rhetorical question. FYI...The Spurs have had just one losing season (20-62 in 1996-97) in 28 years, while over that same 28-year span, Sacramento has had just eight winning seasons, all in an eight-year run from 1998-99 to 2005-06.
Sacramento: The Kings won their first game after dealing Cousins but now the losses are beginning to pile up. "It's been tough, just trying to get used to each other," Kings PG Ty Lawson said a 108-96 loss at Denver on Monday. "This is five games we've lost in a row? We've got to get another one soon." Sacramento is close to falling out of the competition for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, as the Kings are now four games back of Denver, with three teams between them and the Nuggets. With the teams only two productive scorers gone (Cousins in a trade and Gay to an injury), Collison (13.7) is the only player averaging in double digits, not counting Evans and Hield, who are both at 13.2 PPG, but have played in just five and six games, respectively, for the Kings.
San Antonio: No team roots for an injury to its competitors but when K.D. went down (out for four weeks or maybe longer) back on Feb. 28, the Spurs had to think, "here's our chance to steal the No. 1 seed." The Spurs have won eight straight games and All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard is fueling the Spurs' hot stretch. He's averaged 33.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.3 steals over his last four. Most observers have declared that the MVP race is between James Harden and Russell Westbrook but Leonard continues to force his way into the conversation. He has solidified his reputation as the NBA's top two-way player with his increase in scoring to 26.3 PPG, as he's produced 23, 30-point games this season. He scored 39 points and made a clutch lead-protecting block on Houston's James Harden in Monday's 112-110 victory.
The pick: The Spurs win tonight but it should not go unnoticed that while the Spurs have won four straight since K.D.'s injury, those four wins have come by one and two points plus in two OT games. The Spurs haven't come close to covering! Make Sacramento an 8* play.
Sacramento: The Kings won their first game after dealing Cousins but now the losses are beginning to pile up. "It's been tough, just trying to get used to each other," Kings PG Ty Lawson said a 108-96 loss at Denver on Monday. "This is five games we've lost in a row? We've got to get another one soon." Sacramento is close to falling out of the competition for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, as the Kings are now four games back of Denver, with three teams between them and the Nuggets. With the teams only two productive scorers gone (Cousins in a trade and Gay to an injury), Collison (13.7) is the only player averaging in double digits, not counting Evans and Hield, who are both at 13.2 PPG, but have played in just five and six games, respectively, for the Kings.
San Antonio: No team roots for an injury to its competitors but when K.D. went down (out for four weeks or maybe longer) back on Feb. 28, the Spurs had to think, "here's our chance to steal the No. 1 seed." The Spurs have won eight straight games and All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard is fueling the Spurs' hot stretch. He's averaged 33.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.3 steals over his last four. Most observers have declared that the MVP race is between James Harden and Russell Westbrook but Leonard continues to force his way into the conversation. He has solidified his reputation as the NBA's top two-way player with his increase in scoring to 26.3 PPG, as he's produced 23, 30-point games this season. He scored 39 points and made a clutch lead-protecting block on Houston's James Harden in Monday's 112-110 victory.
The pick: The Spurs win tonight but it should not go unnoticed that while the Spurs have won four straight since K.D.'s injury, those four wins have come by one and two points plus in two OT games. The Spurs haven't come close to covering! Make Sacramento an 8* play.
