Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers Picks and Odds Jan 10
Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Preview
WagerTalk NBA handicapper Tony Finn offers his Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers betting preview for Monday, January 10. At the time of posting, the Cavaliers have opened as a 5-point road favorite in Sacramento, with the total sitting at 219.5 points.
Stay on top of the latest NBA updates direct from Las Vegas!
| Monday, January 10 | NBA Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Cleveland Cavaliers -5 at Sacramento Kings |
| Total: | 219.5 Points |
| Game Time: | 10:10pm ET / 10:10pm PT |
| Arena: | Golden One Center in Sacramento |
| TV: | NBC Sports California |
Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers Analysis
J.B. Bickerstaff’s Eastern Conference Cleveland Cavaliers (22-17, third in the Central Division) visit the Cali Capital of Sacramento tonight to square off against the Western Conference Kings (16-25, 5th in the Pacific Division).
Sacramento is a high-scoring National Basketball Association franchise that scores big points with little concern for defensive matters. Unfortunately, the Kings have been as porous on their home hardwood as they have been as visitors in the first half of the 2021-22 Association season.
The Circa Race and Sportsbook is located in historic downtown Las Vegas and is the newest of the city’s resorts, casinos, and sportsbooks. The Circa management opened the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers as 5-point road favorites with an over-under game total of 220.5 points. When this Monday night NBA game preview went to press, the spread nor total had received much interest, and in turn, the game lines were the same as the overnight openers at Circa.
The Kings host the upstart Cavaliers in the first of a scheduled five-game homestand. A game night preview for tonight’s two squads offers overwhelming evidence that the visiting Cavaliers are in the better current form.
Cleveland and Sacramento met on Lake Erie in early December. Both Eastern Conference teams played on Sunday, with the Cavs squaring off against the Warriors in San Fran and the Kings competing against the Lilliard and McCollum-less Trail Blazers.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers hang their game hat on their ability to be defensively artistic. The Cavs have earned this reputation because they have achieved in the first 40 games of the 2021-22 campaign. Bickerstaff’s squad has the top-ranked defense in the Eastern Conference with a 105.7 rating.
Cleveland checks in tonight in a tilt that will close the first half of the season with a 102.5 defensive rating, the Eastern Conference-best. 102.5 points per game while holding opponents to 44.2% shooting.
Floor general Darius Garland has come into his own in this his third season in the league. Garland is the team’s leader and the fuel for the Cleveland basketball engine. Garland averages 19.3 points and 7.1 assists per game for the Cavaliers.
Veteran frontcourt stalwart Kevin Love brings the Cavs’ second rotation experience and savvy. With the lineup that the Cavs figure to use as the first five, be it Garland, Stevens, Markkanen, Mobley, and Allen, the team’s Net Rating is 113.7 with a defensive efficiency of 100.0. When Mobley and Allen are on the floor together, the defensive rating is south of 100.00. When opponents are attacking, the Cavs halfcourt sets the rating, dependent on the trio of accomplices that the Mobley and Allen show is working with is in the neighborhood of 80.0.
Cleveland is 5.5 game behind the Central Division first-place Chicago Bulls and three in back of the reigning world champions. Bickerstaff’s troupe rest in the sixth slot of the Eastern Conference standings. The five teams in front of Cleveland are Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, and Philadelphia 76ers.
Below the Cavs in the conference standings are the Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Boston Celtics. Those above are the Top-10 in the East, with current postseason non-qualifiers being the NY Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, and Orlando magic.
In the 40 games on the schedule that have been completed, the Cavs have exceeded the bookmakers’ market value, outperforming expectations. As a result, Cleveland has graded out as the top team in the Association in terms of +/- points above the closing books numbers, closing spread.
The Cavaliers are 28-12 against the number this season with nearly a five-point margin of victory and, on average, performing 7-points better than the bookmakers closing handicap, line, or spread if you rather.
Bickerstaff spoke to the media after the victory over the Kings about the chemistry between Allen and Mobley.
“You’re watching the last couple of games; Jarrett and Evan have been playing well at high-low basketball because they’re fronting (Mobley),” coach Bickerstaff preached to the media after Sunday night’s game on the Bay Area side of San Francisco. “Jarrett’s making the reads and getting those passes to Evan. Earlier in the year, it was a lot of Evan making those passes to Jarrett,” added Bickerstaff.
For Allen, the team’s early success has understood that remaining consistent in their approach will help the club stay balanced.
“I’m a true believer in just how we’ve been playing,” Allen told the media in their Sunday night post-game presser. “You’re going to have off nights shooting, but we have been consistently playing hard, playing our defense, and playing very well. It’s a long season. Every team goes through rough shooting nights, injuries, anything and everything you can think of. Our thing is trying to work around it. Focus on our defense, try to focus on something else so we can translate it back into our offense.”
An article written by Dan Devine of TheRinger outlined a time in space when the league played slower, and bigs were a standard fixture in the paint. Devine noted research done by Zoe Surma of Basketball-Reference.com; before this season, there had been 223 games in which a team started three players who stood 6-foot-11 or taller. On February 1, 1985, the first came when Jazz coach Frank Layden rolled with the 7-foot-4 Mark Eaton, 7-foot Rich Kelley, and 6-foot-11 Thurl Bailey in a win over the Mavericks. Eaton, who’d go on to win Defensive Player of the Year, registered his second 20-rebound, 10-block triple-double of the season.
Devine wrote at TheRinger portal, “Slower-paced NBA of the 1990s and early 2000s were not a novelty, but a believed must be competitive in the summer-long Association postseason schedule. According to Surma, before the Cavs’ move toward tall-ball, the most recent instance of an NBA team starting three players 6-foot-11 or bigger was on January 13, 2015, when the Spurs began Tim Duncan, Tiago Splitter, and Austin Daye against the Wizards. (That wasn’t some grand plan hatched by Gregg Popovich, though; Daye only got the nod because Kawhi Leonard was out with a bruised right hand.)
“Before coach Popovich went frontcourt big in a large way, you have to go back to December 3, 2010, when the Kings trotted out a front line of Samuel Dalembert, Jason Thompson, and Donté Greene against the back-to-back defending champion Lakers … and promptly got smoked by 33 points,” added Devine.
Cleveland has an ATS record of 26-11-2. However, they have covered the spread just once over their last five games. On the other side,
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings come into this game with two pieces to the team’s success questionable to play. PG De’Aaron Fox is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury. Center Richaun Holmes is still on the league’s Health and Safety Protocols list but lacks the conditioning factor needed to run the hardwood for 30-plus minutes. If they pick up the win, they will need big performances from Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield, averaging 16.3 and 15.5 points, respectively.
When these two franchises met in early December, the Cavs’ fifth game in seven nights and the second leg of a back-to-back, the December 11th event followed a Cleveland and Minnesota contest the night before. The Cavs took the Timberwolves to the woodshed.
Sacramento has a 10-13 record on their home court. Alvin Gentry’s Kings have been either competitive or sleepwalking and rarely anything in between. Sacramento has a 16-26 overall record this season. In five of the squads’ 16 wins this season, Gentry’s troupe has earned wins by 10-points or more. Conversely, all 16 of the club’s losses have been by 10-points or more.
The point guard and conductor of the Sacramento offense is fifth-year point guard De’Aaron Fox. The former Kentucky Wildcat is averaging 20.6 points and grabbing 3.5 rebounds per game. For the Kings. Tyrese Haliburton is averaging 16.4 points and 3.3 rebounds over the last ten games for Sacramento.
The Kings do not shoot the ball with any consistency beyond the arc. They shoot as a team right at 35 percent, but most the Kings’ game points come from Fox driving, dunking, or dishing and creating open looks from the perimeter.
Sacramento has an ATS record of 17-24; this includes going 0-3 against the number in the team’s last three games.
Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction
The Cavs crushed the Kings on that December 11th night, a game in which the Cavs won by 14 and never trailed while leading by as many as 29 points. Since that victory, Cleveland has allowed just 99.7 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions with Allen, Mobley, and Markkanen sharing the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass. And all said this season, when Mobley and Allen are the frontcourts for this Cavs five active on the court, the halfcourt defense of Cleveland is the most efficient in the league.
Cleveland has shown ridiculous improvement in preventing easy buckets at the rim. Cavs opponents were taking over 39 percent of their shots at the edge against the Cavs heading into December, the second-highest rate in the league for the season. Again, over the last month, the triple-towers are holding opponents to less than a 55 percent success rate at the rim, the best percentage against in league with Allen-Mobley-Markkanen on the floor together.
The trio of Marky Mark, a 7-footer from Finland, was acquired as a stretch four to improve one of the worst 3-point shooting rosters in the league. Markkanen is starting alongside the 7-foot Mobley and the 6-foot-11 Allen. The three are the biggest frontcourt in the league since … the turn of the century.
The Cavs top the league in success when playing without rest. Cleveland is 5-2 against the closing number when playing the second leg of a back-to-back. When Cleveland squares off on the game night and is in a matchup in which they have the same number of days’ rest as their opponent Cleveland is 17-7 ATS.
My recommendation is to play tonight’s Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers game under the total.
Interested in placing a bet on tonight’s Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers contest? DraftKings is offering a $1,000 Deposit Bonus for first-time bettors in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Wyoming and Arizona.
🤑🤩 Want to create your own Handicapping Dream Team? Build your own superstar handicapping line-up using our Pick Your Team Program at https://t.co/LJc0itwejT! Even more exciting, until the 16th at midnight you can save 15% off Pick Your Team using code PYT15 at check out! pic.twitter.com/ndBnPdDig4
— WagerTalk (@WagerTalk) January 10, 2022
Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers Preview from GoldSheet
We give Cleveland another mulligan after last night’s trip to Golden State, though the Cavs have also now dropped 6 of their last 7 vs. the line (some of those with a depleted backcourt minus Darius Garland, who has since returned); remember, when near full-strength for most of December, Cleveland was the only team in the league to rank top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency, while Rajon Rondo has made contributions in his first two games, including 15 points last night vs. Golden State.
The Kings continue to lose, now four in a row (SU and vs. line) after last night’s limp showing in Portland. Sacto has already had enough trouble in second nights of back-to-backs (just 1-5 vs. line last six), but even the well-spaced appearances have been getting progressively worse across the past week, culminating against the Blazers on Sunday when hitting only 7 of 31 beyond the arc and being taken to the woodshed by a Portland team minus both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Keep in mind, too, that the Kings didn’t even have a look at the first meeting Dec. 11 by the shores of Lake Erie, when J.B., Bickerstaff’s boys tied a franchise record for points in the first half (81!) in a 117-103 cruise. Though that game still landed “under” as have the first two games for the Cavs on this road trip thru the Western Conference, and Alvin Gentry’s team is “under” its last 3 at home. Tonight also starts a five-game homestand for Sacto, which might be the beginning of the last chance for the Kings to salvage their season, but recent form offers scant encouragement.
NBA Stat Sheet
Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Monday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers contest.
NBA Tip-Off Show
Join Joe Raineri and a rotating panel of guests for the NBA Tip-Off Show at 4:15pm ET / 1:15pm PT as we discuss tonight’s marquee games. Stay up-to-date on the latest NBA news, stats, analysis, and predictions with our panel of professional handicappers as they preview tonight’s NBA action, including this Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers clash, from a betting perspective.
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the NBA point spreads, moneylines, first half lines and betting percentages for all of Monday’s NBA games, including this Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers showdown, from your desktop or phone.
**************************************************
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
