SACRAMENTO KINGS VS DALLAS MAVERICKS
1.73
TOTAL (INCL OVERTIME) - OVER 213.5
The Sacramento Kings are hosting the Dallas Mavericks and the winner will travel to Memphis to face the Grizzlies on Friday for the last playoff berth in the Western Conference. The Kings and The Mavericks squared off on three occasions during the regular season and Sacramento won them all.
Harrison is the General Manager of the Dallas Mavericks and the one that decided to trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February. The stupidest move ever done by a GM in the NBA. Nico had to take it a couple of steps further with a “press meeting” the day before his team faces the Sacramento Kings in a game that could be the last of the season for Dallas. Harrison has shown the world on several occasions that he cannot read the room at all. Nico both doubled and tripled down on the trade in front of the Dallas media.
No cameras and recording equipment were allowed during the press meeting. Not the best thing to do the same day that the team is travelling to Sacramento. Harrison just alienated the Dallas Mavericks fan base even more from the franchise with his comments. During the meeting he told the reporters several times that defence wins championships. Doncic scored 43 points on the Mavs last week. The Mavericks defence were nowhere to be seen in that game. Nowhere at all.
The Mavs finished the season with a record of 39 wins and 43 lost games. Since they traded away Doncic a lot of stuff has gone the wrong way for the franchise. Kyrie Irving got injured and is out for the season. The same goes for Dante Exum. Those two are the best ball handlers on the team. The veteran Spencer Dinwiddie is the main handler of the ball in Irving and Exum’s absence.
The big men Derrick Lively and Daniel Gafford are healthy again. The two of them will be needed versus Sabonis and Valanciunas. That puts Anthony Davis at the power forward position which is his preferred one. Klay Thompson is very crucial for Dallas. Just as Najji Marshall is. The small forward joined the Dallas Mavericks from the Pelicans in the offseason and has been great for Dallas the whole season. He is a very solid two-way player that has developed on the offensive end of the floor this season. Marshall has the potential to be the X factor in this matchup.
The Kings won 40 and lost 42 games in the regular season with a home record of 20-21. They fired their head coach Mike Brown in the middle of the season and traded away their best player De'Aaron Fox in February. Zach LaVine joined the Kings from the Bulls in February and has been good for them. Sacramento won five out of their last ten games in the regular season and four out of their last six.
The trio of LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan are hugely important to the Sacramento Kings on the offensive end of the floor. Not allowing too many points in the paint is a true key factor for both ball clubs in this one. As the Kings played well to end the regular season Sabonis feels good about their chances. “I feel like we are playing our best ball in the last six or seven games. We have to use that momentum in the play-in,” he told nba.com.
