Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings (28-36) will be looking to extend one of their best streaks of the season, with 7 wins in the last 10 meetings. During that span, the Sacramento Kings are averaging 109 points per game on ~46% shooting. Although there have been recent questions about the benching of the team's nominal leader Buddie Hield at crucial moments of the game, which was automatically perceived by many analysts as a "spark" between the player and the coach, it seems that everything is fine and tactical decisions were simply made at this point. The Kings were identified before the season as one of the real contenders to return to the playoffs after a long break, but during the season the team did not show the kind of stability needed to finish among the top 8 teams in the Western Conference. However, the last few weeks have been a positive one, so the Kings should not be written off just yet

De'Aaron Fox is the team's most stable player, scoring 20 points and dishing out 7 assists per game. Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovic is also very comfortable in the line-up, often taking over the lead from De'Aaron Fox and B. Hield and taking the initiative at crucial moments. It's also worth mentioning that the Sacramento Kings have won 6 of their last 8 games at home, so it's safe to say that they should be favourites for this game.

New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans (28-36) are the direct competitors of the Sacramento Kings, as both teams have identical win/loss records. However, unlike the Kings, the Pelicans have only 5 wins in their last 10 games played. Interestingly, the Pelicans have managed to win 7 of their last 10 road games, which shows that this team has no home court advantage, while the Pelicans are playing similarly both away and at home. The Pelicans continue to be one of the highest scoring and highest paced teams in the league, averaging 116 points per game.

The debut of Z. Williamson, who was named "Rookie of the Year" in the pre-season after a serious injury, was a major boost for the team. The wait was worth it as Williamson immediately started to prove his worth and although he missed most of the season, many sports analysts have already started debating whether Morant should win the Rookie of the Year award. Williamson is averaging 23.6 points and 6.8 rebounds, which is impressive for a player who missed his first season and half of it with an injury.

Will miss this match

Sacramento Kings: Marvin Bagley (out), Justin James (out);

New Orleans Pelicans: J.J. Redick (out), D. Miller (out), N. Alexander-Walker (out).

Forecast

The importance of this game is high for both teams, as they are direct competitors for a place in the play-offs. The New Orleans Pelicans are the more talented and arguably stronger team, but it is the Sacramento Kings who have recently shown more confidence and better results. The Pelicans like to get into scoring races, but with one of the team's most important players J.J. Redick missing the game and the Kings' key players all healthy, it's unlikely that the Pelicans will be able to overtake the Kings' equally young and attacking Kings' team. The odds are more or less similar here, but a team playing at home in a game of this importance should not be the underdog.

Sacramento Kings - New Orleans Pelicans, 12/03/2020