The Sacramento Kings will play their first game since the controversial end of Mike Brown’s time with the franchise, as they visit the Los Angeles Lakers for these Pacific division rivals’ final meeting in the 2024-25 NBA regular season. Will the Kings overcome the drama and take down LA? Or, will the Lakers add to Sacramento’s woes?
Catch this game live on Sunday, December 29, 2024 at 11:30 AM, Manila time
Away: Sacramento Kings (13-18/7-6 Away)
Projected Starting Five:
- De’Aaron Fox
- Malik Monk
- DeMar DeRozan
- Keegan Murray
- Domantas Sabonis (Questionable)
Sacramento will look to move on from the Mike Brown era after the Kings sacked their now-former head coach on Saturday. Former Kings player Doug Christie now fills the void left by Brown as the team’s interim head coach. With Brown gone, the onus is on the likes of Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox to step up and deliver for the team.
However, Sabonis is questionable for the Laker game and was not seen in practice on Saturday. Fox, meanwhile, is healthy and coming off a 26-point performance, albeit in a 114-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons at home on Friday. Sacramento is on a five-game losing skid, with defeat at the hands of the Pistons seemingly the final straw that led to Brown’s firing.
For all their issues, the Kings are still top 10 in the league in scoring, with averages of 114.7 points and 42.4 field goals made per game – both ninth overall in the NBA. The Kings are 6-4 against the spread in their last 10 games.
Home: Los Angeles Lakers (17-13, 9-4/Home)
Projected Starting Five:
- Austin Reaves
- Max Christie
- Rui Hachimura (Questionable)
- LeBron James (Questionable)
- Anthony Davis (Questionable)
The Lakers can complete a regular-season sweep of Sacramento with a win this Sunday. It also seems like Los Angeles is catching the Kings at just the right time, with Sacramento still adjusting to a major change on the sidelines due to the shocking dismissal of head coach Mike Brown.
Los Angeles, which is coming off a sensational 115-113 road win over the Golden State Warriors last Thursday, is 3-0 straight up this season against the Kings. LeBron James, whose eyes turn red whenever he sees DeMar DeRozan on the court, has averaged 27.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.7 assists in those games. That said, James, Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura are all listed as questionable for the Kings game at the time of this writing.
The Lakers are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games overall. Meanwhile, the Under is 5-2 in Los Angeles’ last seven outings.
Picks
Spread: Los Angeles Lakers (-3.0)
Over/Under: Over (223.0)
