Hornets vs Kings Prediction, Picks | Best Bet Tonight

Here's everything you need to know about Hornets vs. Kings on Tuesday, Jan. 2 — our expert prediction and betting picks for today.

The Hornets will head on the road to take on the Kings on Tuesday night. Can the Hornets pull off the upset? Or will the Kings blowout this undermanned Charlotte squad?

Let's get to our Hornets vs. Kings prediction and pick.

The clearest edge in this matchup will be this Kings offense going up against this bad Hornets defense.

The Hornets rank 28th in defensive rating (122.4) and dead last in effective field goal percentage allowed (57.9%). Monitor the injury report, as Mark Williams is doubtful for Charlotte. The defense has been night and day with Williams on the court, as their defensive rating jumps from 125.0 to 118.0 with Williams on the court.

I don’t expect Williams to play, but even if he does, it shouldn’t massively inhibit this Kings offense that generates the third-highest 3-point attempt rate in the NBA. The Kings should be able to create great looks all night with De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk breaking the Hornets defense down at the point of attack.

The Hornets desperately need Williams and LaMelo Ball back in their lineup, as they’ve now lost 10 straight games. Everybody is making fun of the Detroit Pistons for their 28-game losing streak, but the Hornets are in that same tier of awful. In fact, when you adjust for schedule strength, the Hornets actually have a worse net rating (-8.7) than the Pistons (-8.4), according to dunksandthrees.com.

With Ball and Williams on the court, the Hornets have a net rating of -3.6, but when these two are out they drop 12.1 points to a horrible -15.7 net rating. This is not a team I want to be backing in their current state, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get blown out here.

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I can’t back this Charlotte team given its injury report and shot profile. The Hornets rank just 26th in 3-point attempt rate and 22nd in 3-point percentage (36.5%), so I don’t expect them to keep pace with this explosive Kings offense. At the current price of Kings -15, I would rather bet the Kings team total over 124. I would bet Sacramento's team total over up to 125 here.

Pick: Kings Team Total Over 124 

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