NBA Regular Season 2023/24, Tuesday, 06.02.2024
On Tuesday night, there will be an inter-conference duel in the NBA between the ambitious and in-form teams from Cleveland and Sacramento. Excitement is guaranteed at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse!
My Cavaliers Kings betting tip, for which the Intertops bonus applies, shows you why I expect a close affair in which the Kings will lose by a maximum difference of six points
Not unsurprisingly, the Cleveland Cavaliers currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 31-16.
With nine wins from their last ten games, they are the most in-form team in the world’s best basketball league alongside the Knicks!
They have only lost one of their last 14 games. They have also beaten two absolute heavyweights in Milwaukee (+20 and +12) and the Clippers (+10)
The team is also convincing at home and against teams from the Western Conference, with a 17-8 record in front of a home crowd and 11-6 against Western teams.
Although the team from Ohio only has a slightly below-average offense (17th place with a rating of 115.3), the chestnuts are elite defensively.
With a rating of 110.5, the Cavs have the second-best defense in the association!
In the last fourteen games, the Cavaliers, led by defensive guru J.B. Bickerstaff, have allowed just 102.5 opponent points per game.
In particular, big men Evan Mobley (1.5 blocks per game) and Jarrett Allen (1.1) anchor the Cavs defense with their interior presence.
Offensively, meanwhile, Cleveland can rely on a genuine superstar in Donovan Mitchell, who contributes 28.2 points, 6.4 assists and 1.9 steals at solid rates of 46.9% from the field and 35.1% from the three-point line.
While the Cavaliers are mediocre offensively and elite defensively, the Kings from Sacramento rank in the middle of the league at both ends of the floor.
The Purple & White’s offense is the fourteenth best with a rating of 116.7, while the defense ranks 17th with a rating of 115.7.
The Californians are currently in fifth place in the Western Conference, which has always been stronger, winning six of their last ten games and six of their last seven games
The Californians have also won five of their last six away games.
Kings superstar De’Aaron Fox, who quite surprisingly was not nominated for this year’s All-Star Game, has improved on last year’s performance and is currently averaging 27.5 points, 5.4 assists and 1.8 steals at a rate of 47% from the field and 38% from the three-point line.
The Kings can also count on strong role players, with four other players behind Fox and co-star Domantas Sabonis (19.9 points and 13 rebounds per game) scoring ten or more points per game (the Cavs also have six in total).
The overall balance of the duel is relatively even with 65 Kings wins and 61 Cavs wins, with the Kings winning the last three games.
This includes the first leg in November 2023, which ended 132:120 in favor of Sacramento.
In the sports betting apps, the visiting Kings are overly positioned as underdogs in my eyes with win odds around 2.48 (Cavs odds around 1.46).
Based on the current strength of form of both teams, who present themselves as a cohesive collective night after night, I expect a tight affair that should keep even the neutral fan enthralled until the last minute.
I therefore tend to give the Kings a virtual lead of 6.5 points, which they will then have to maintain in a handicap bet.
At Intertops, this bet is traded at attractive odds of 1.64.
Alternatively, you can also bet on 25.5 or more points from Kings superstar Fox, who averages 27.5 points per game (odds around 1.83).
But my Cavaliers Kings tip for you is: Kings with handicap +6.5!
