The Kings and Warriors must have deja vu as they meet in the 9-10 Play-In game after facing in
the opening round of the playoffs last season. The Warriors upset Sacramento in a thrilling
seven game series. Can Stephen Curry carry his team back into the playoffs or is this the end
of the Warriors dynasty? The winner will face the loser of the Pelicans/Lakers game and that
winner moves on to take on the Western Conference top seed, the Oklahoma Thunder.
Sacramento Kings
The Kings enter this Play-In game having split the season's series 2-2 but do have recency bias
on their side, having won each of their last two meetings with the Warriors.
Strength
Both De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have been red-hot this month, adding to incredible
seasons for each player. Fox sits inside the top ten, averaging 26.6 points per game and is
averaging an even better 28.3 ppg through April. Sabonis is inside the top ten when it comes to
his 8.2 assists and 59.3% field goal percentage. That doesn’t even include the most important
part of his statline, the league-best 13.7 rebounds he’s put up this year. He’s also heating up at
the right time with an average of 14.6 rebounds in the eight games the Kings have had this
month.
Weakness
The Kings had the opportunity to control their own destiny down the stretch but blew it with the
aforementioned recent record of 2-7. They could have avoided an extremely playoff experienced Warriors squad and locked up a top-six spot in the standings.
Golden State Warriors
Each of their last three meetings were decided by just a single point with the first contest seeing
the Warriors being the lone outlier, a 122-114 Golden State victory. The Warriors finished with
an identical 46-36 record to the Pelicans but now enter enemy territory having won 10 of their
last 12 games.
Strength
Steph Curry is still doing Steph Curry things. He ranks 10th in the league, averaging 26.4 points
per game this season. His rebound and assist game has picked up over the past two weeks,
with an average of 6.2 and 6.5 per game respectively in the month of April.
Weakness
No other player on the Warriors is averaging at least 20 points a game. So it becomes all about
Curry. Should the Kings figure out the star Point Guard, the Kings may be able to exercise their
demons from last year.
Current Odds
Spread Moneyline Total
Warriors -2.5 -110 -140 O 224 -105
Kings +2.5 -110 +120 U 224 -115
Season Series
October 27: Warriors 122 @ Kings 114
November 1: Kings 101 @ Warriors 102
November 28: Warriors 123 @ Kings 124
January 25: Kings 134 @ Warriors 133
For the latest NBA odds visit BetOnline.