Spurs look to stay hot against Sacramento Kings: Preview and predictions

Coming off of their best game of the season the San Antonio Spurs will try to keep the momentum rolling against the Sacramento Kings tonight.

After Tuesday nights exhilarating double-overtime win against the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs were understandably exhausted. Thankfully they’ve had two full days of rest to prepare for tonight’s opponent, the Sacramento Kings.

This contest with the Kings will be the first of four meetings that the two teams have this season. Like the Spurs, the Kings were viewed as a fringe playoff contender coming into the season. And, like the Spurs, those hopes have not panned out as planned through the first stretch of the season.

Sacramento comes into tonight’s game as losers of two straight and are missing some key players due to injury. De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley will both sit out tonight’s game due to injury. Bojan Bogdanovic is questionable and viewed as day to day as he works through a nagging knee issue. This leaves Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes as the biggest threats to a Spurs victory tonight.

Containing Hield will be key. He’s one of the best shooters in the league and can light up the Spurs on his own if allowed. It will be interesting to see how Gregg Popovich sets up his defense to make sure that Hield and Barnes are not able to get hot from deep. Lonnie Walker was solid on defense whenever he matched up with James Harden on Tuesday, letting him have another go at the opposing team’s top threat could be another chance for him to earn more playing time.

Walker’s playing time will be a key point to watch for tonight. He’s coming off of the breakout, career-best game that we all knew he was capable of putting together. But it will take more than one breakout game to earn him a starting spot or seriously increased minutes. Tonight will be another great chance for him to showcase what he’s capable of and make his case for a position in the starting lineup.

Gameday bets and prediction

Spread: San Antonio Spurs -4.5

Over/Under: 215

Player prop bets:

• DeMar DeRozan: 4.5 assists, 21.5 points
• Jakob Poeltl: 8.5 points
• Bryn Forbes: 13.5 points
• Derrick White: 10.5 points, 3.5 assists

All betting information courtesy of The Action Network.

Tonight could be the beginning of a little hot streak for the San Antonio Spurs. Lonnie’s breakout game stole the show but what really stood out about the win against the Houston Rockets was the energy that the whole team played with from start to finish. Players were diving for loose balls, making the extra pass, and giving 110 percent effort.

If the Spurs come out with that same energy tonight they should have no problem putting this one away and covering that -4.5 spread. San Antonio has another extended break after tonight so there is no reason why they should not be flying around out there.

DeRozan and Forbes both have good chances of hitting their prop bet marks. Forbes came out hot last time the Spurs took the court. He was hitting shots from the jump and ended the night with a season-high 25 points. Forbes is one of the swing players on the Spurs, when he plays well the team succeeds but an off night from him, especially if he’s not hitting from deep, can kill the team.

The San Antonio Spurs are in a good position right now. They’ve got a good matchup tonight, are coming off of their best win of the season, and have a relatively easy upcoming schedule. We could be looking at the beginnings of the mid-season turn around we’ve been hoping for.