The Sacramento Kings are looking to sweep the season series against the Charlotte Hornets and are ready to welcome them to Golden One Center. Catch this game at 11 AM on Tuesday, December 20th.
Away: Charlotte Hornets (7-23, 3-12 Away)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: LaMelo Ball
- SG: Bryce McGowens
- SF: Gordon Hayward
- PF: PJ Washington
- C: Mason Plumlee
There’s a tradition of random players going off against the Sacramento Kings, and PJ Washington did exactly that when the teams met near the start of the season. Washington finished with 28 points, five rebounds and three assists while shooting 12 of 21 from the field, but no one else on the team eclipsed the 20-point mark even though five other Hornets scored in double figures.
However, the Hornets now have LaMelo Ball back, and he’s averaged 27 points and 6.3 assists since coming back. However, the Hornets are mired in an eight-game losing streak and now face a Kings team that has been strong in front of their own fans and have just come back from a difficult road trip, where they managed to keep their road record at 8-8.
The Hornets will be playing tired as well, after just losing 119-115 to the Denver Nuggets. They were torn apart by Nikola Jokic, who had 40 points, 27 rebounds and 10 assists on 13 of 26 shooting. Taking on a rested Kings squad on the second night of a back-to-back is not an ideal situation.
Home: Sacramento Kings (16-12, 8-4 Home)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: De’Aaron Fox
- SG: Kevin Huerter
- SF: Harrison Barnes
- PF: Keegan Murray
- C: Domantas Sabonis
The Kings are looking for their third win in a row and will remember that they already came back from behind and won 115-108 against the Hornets in Charlotte. The key battle to watch will be Domantas Sabonis vs. Mason Plumlee, as Sabonis has continued to ramp up his production since the Kings and Hornets last met. In that previous game, he finished with nine points, 16 rebounds and seven assists while fouling out of the game. Sabonis has fouled out a lot less in the last few weeks and he’s ramped up both his defense and has shown his talent for rebounding consistently. He recently single-handedly out rebounded Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in a victory against the Cavaliers, so he’ll be a handful for the Hornets frontcourt.
De’Aaron Fox is rounding back into form after sitting a few games with a foot injury, and he was the catalyst for the Kings’ recent win against the Detroit Pistons, where he had a slow start and then finished with 24 points, five rebounds and nine assists. More importantly for the Kings, Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray are also starting to get out of their shooting slumps.
Harrison Barnes has also stepped up recently and has had strong two-way performances.
PREDICTION:
Spread: The Kings should cover -9.5
Over/Under: The Over 239.5 looks good.
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