NBA Regular Season 2023/24, Friday, 19.01.2024
The Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers, who both have a record of 23-17, face off on Friday night. Excitement is guaranteed in the capital of California!
My Kings Pacers betting tip explains why I expect a reasonably confident victory for the hosts
With an offensive rating of 121.6, the Indiana Pacers currently not only have the best offense in the NBA, but also the historically best offense in the history of the best basketball league in the world.
Only the lousy defense (26th with 119.5) prevents the team from the Midwest from doing even better.
Indianapolis are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, having won seven of their last three games.
However, they have lost their last two games in Denver (-8) and Salt Lake City (-27) and have been without superstar guard Tyrese Haliburton for the last four games (2-2 record).
Haliburton, who is one of the Association’s most versatile offensive players with 23.6 points and 12.5 assists at strong rates (49.7% from the field and 40.3% from behind the three-point line), will also miss the Kings game with a tendon injury.
The scoring load will therefore fall more heavily on the shoulders of center Myles Turner (17.2 points per game), and shooting guards Bennedict Mathurin (14.6) and Buddy Hield (12.7).
In general, the Pacers can rely on a strong supporting cast, as after Haliburton, seven other players score at least 10 points per night
With Pascal Siakam, Indy acquired an All-NBA player on Wednesday night in return for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks from Toronto.
However, it is almost impossible that Siakam will make his Pacers debut the very next night in faraway Sacramento.
The absence of superstar Haliburton is unsurprisingly not a good omen for the Pacers, as they were only able to win three of seven games without their offensive catalyst.
Two of those three wins came against the basement dwellers from Washington and Atlanta.
The away win against last year’s finalists from Miami (+15) in early December without Haliburton gives hope that the Kings can do something similar.
They are currently in seventh place in the Western Conference, which has always been stronger, but have only won five of their last ten games and have lost all of their last three.
The last two matches can be categorized as heartbreaker losses.
On Sunday, they lost in overtime (-1) thanks to a buzzer-beater three-pointer by Bucks guard Damian Lillard
And on Tuesday, they let a 22-point lead slip away at the Phoenix Suns (-2).
Against the Pacers, the Kings will once again be able to build on the home court advantage of the Golden 1 Center, where they have a 13-7 record this season.
While the Pacers are strong offensively and weak defensively, the Kings rank in the middle of the league at both ends.
The California offense is the fourteenth best with a 116.3 rating, while the defense ranks 17th with a 115.9 rating.
Kings superstar De’Aaron Fox has improved even further compared to last year and is currently averaging 28 points and 5.8 assists at strong rates of 47% from the field and 39.6% from the three-point line.
Similar to the Pacers, the Kings can count on strong role players, with four other players behind Fox and co-star Domantas Sabonis (20.1 points per game) scoring ten points per game.
Due to the absence of All-Stars Haliburton and Siakam as well as elite defender Brown on the Pacers’ side, I firmly expect a win for the home-strong Kings.
The Kings have won their last nine games by an average margin of 15.33 points. Only three of these victories were achieved by less than 7.5 points.
Therefore, I recommend a handicap bet with -7.5 on the Kings, which is traded at Oddset Sportwetten with attractive odds of 1.87.
My Kings Pacers tip: Kings win despite HC -7.5!
