The Dallas Mavericks are 1-0 so far in their Kyrie Irving experience. Will they get to 2-0 with Kyrie in the fold after dealing with the Sacramento Kings this Saturday? Or will the Kings show Dallas why they are West Coast royalty this season?

Catch this game live on Saturday, February 11, at 11 AM, Manila time

Away: Dallas Mavericks (30-26/11-17 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Luka Doncic (questionable)
• SG: Kyrie Irving
• SF: Tim Hardaway Jr.
• PF: Reggie Bullock
• C: Dwight Powell

There is a chance that we are going to see Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic run alongside each other for the first time this Saturday when the Mavs continue their West Coast trip in Sacramento. Doncic has missed the last three Mavs games, but he’s questionable as of this writing for the Sacramento game. 

In any case, the Mavs are looking fine, having won four of their last five games and both of their previous two, including in Irving’s Dallas debut on Thursday in which they beat the Los Angeles Clippers on the road, 110-104. Irving scored 24 points on 9/27 shooting with five assists versus the Clippers. If Doncic plays, some early on-court chemistry issues between him and Irving should not be too much of an obstacle for the Mavs to take advantage of Sacramento’s leaky defense that is 25th in the NBA in adjusted defensive rating. Dallas has covered the spread in all of its last four games and is 5-0 ATS in its last five versus teams with a winning record.

Home: Sacramento Kings (31-23/16 – 11 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: De’Aaron Fox
• SG: Kevin Huerter
• SF: Harrison Barnes
• PF: Keegan Murray
• C: Domantas Sabonis

A journey to Texas has Sacramento cured of its malaise. After losing two games in a row to the Indiana Pacers and the New Orleans Pelicans, the Kings scored consecutive wins against the Houston Rockets last Tuesday (140-120) and on Thursday (130-128). Those wins had Sacramento finishing a seven-game road trip with a 4-3 SU and 3-4 ATS records. 

Sacramento’s defense might be bad, but its offense has been so amazing the Kings are still ninth in the league in adjusted rating (+1.7) and third in the Western Conference with a +2.7 average point differential. On the season, the Kings are leading the NBA with an average of 119.5 points per game and third overall with a 57.0 eFG%. The Mavs gave away a major defensive piece in Dorian Finney-Smith in the Irving trade, so they’re more exposed against the high-powered offense of Sacramento, which is also 4-1-1 ATS in its last six home games versus Dallas.

PREDICTIONS:

Spread: The Kings (-1.5) cover the spread.

Over/Under: The total (233.0) hits the Over.