Sacramento Kings vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 14/04/2024, 00:20  by Joseph King | Modified on 14/04/2024 at 00:20 in NBA Predictions

The ninth-place Sacramento Kings and the 15th-placed Portland Trail Blazers conclude their 2023/24 regular seasons on Sunday when they face off at the Golden One Center. While they have guaranteed themselves a spot in the play-in tournament, there is still plenty on the line in this final game for Sacramento. They could potentially move up to eighth-place or down to 10th-place, depending on how things play out here and in other games. 

The Kings come into this contest with a 45-36 record which sees them leading the Warriors on a tiebreaker (identical records) and trailing the eighth-place Lakers by one game. Sacramento’s current predicament is self-induced after managing just three wins in their last 10 games while the Lakers, Warriors and Suns all finished relatively strongly. The Kings most recent outing resulted in a slim 108-107 home loss to the Phoenix Suns after De’Aaron Fox was stripped of the ball while attempting to create a shot for the game winner. The defeat was the third in the row for the Kings who have now lost four of their last six at home.

The Trail Blazers can still overtake the San Antonio Spurs to avoid finishing last-place in the West as they possess identical 21-60 records. They’ll have to win this game and have the Spurs lose, however, as San Antonio has the tiebreakers advantage. Portland comes into this one off the back of a 116-107 home loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday, their fourth defeat in a row. While Portland has struggled to score the ball lately, they’ve been doing a pretty good job on the defensive side. In their last seven games, the Trail Blazers are giving up an average of just 105.9 points per game, which happens to be fewer than the defensive-leading Timberwolves seasonal mark (106.3).