Sacramento Kings vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 14/12/2023, 07:48  by Kennedy Kechula in NBA Predictions

The Sacramento Kings will welcome the high-flying Oklahoma City Thunder in their next NBA regular season assignment. The hosts aren’t doing badly themselves and sit sixth in the Western Conference, four places behind second-placed Oklahoma. Sacramento are coming off a 119-99 loss to the Clippers that ended a two-game winning run. The Kings have stuttered in recent outings and in their last 10 games they have been defeated five times. Two of those defeats have come at home. Mike Brown’s men, who are four games above .500, are averaging 121.6 points a game when playing at home. They however are almost giving up a similar number to their opponents who are averaging 120.1 points. With OKC one of the best offensive teams this season, this could be yet another tough outing for the Kings. Sacramento will continue to be without Alex Len due to an ankle injury while Trey Lyles is listed as ‘Questionable’ with illness. De’Aron Fox had a tough outing in the Clippers loss and scored just 14 points. The Kings guard is the team’s leading points-getter and should be eager to show it here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost the last seven against their soon-to-be hosts. With how they have performed this season, Mark Daigneault’s men will fancy their chances of snapping this losing run. OKC have compiled a 15-7 record which is the sixth-best record in the league. Nine of their victories have come against fellow West teams but they have also suffered the majority of their losses against such teams. The Thunder, who are on a two-game winning run, have won seven of their last 10 away games. They defeated the Jazz 134-120 in their last match. It was the second successive game and third in their last five outings that they had scored over 130 points. OKC are averaging 120.4 points for the season and only four other teams are averaging more. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been responsible for 30.4 of those. The former Clippers guard also leads the team in assists as well as steals. He scored 30 in the win over Utah. Oklahoma are allowing an impressive 107.2 points a game to their opponents when playing away. They however could be without one of their best defenders in Luguentz Dort for this match. Dort, who is also averaging 10.3 points a match, is listed as ‘Questionable’ due to an ankle issue. He is the only potential absentee for the Thunder.