Kings vs. Magic Odds & Pick: Bet on Motivated Sac Squad Sunday Night

Kings vs. Magic Odds

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The Kings and Magic link up for their second games inside the NBA bubble. Orlando is coming off a thumping of Brooklyn, 128-118, in its opener, while the Kings squandered a chance to keep pace for the final spot in the Western Conference playoff race with a 129-120 loss to the Spurs Friday night.

Orlando took the lone matchup between these two back in January, 114-112, covering as a one-point underdog. The line for Sunday night’s matchup opened at Orlando -3 and the total opened at 221.

Let’s breakdown each team’s first game and see what action we can get down on this one.

Sacramento Kings

Sacramento’s loss Friday night was a big blow to its playoff chances. With Portland winning over Memphis, the Blazers were able to pull a game closer to the Grizzlies for the 8-seed, as well as a game ahead of Sacramento and New Orleans for the 9-seed and a shot at the play-in game.

Sacramento had its fair share of chances to seize control of the San Antonio game, and De’Aaron Fox was a big reason why. The former Kentucky standout rolled his ankle in the team’s mini-camp leading up to the restart, but he didn’t show any issues on Friday.

Fox went for a career-high 42 points on a jarring 33 shot attempts. It was his show on Friday, but the Kings are going to need the likes of Buddy Hield (2-of-13 from the field in this one) to get it going if they want to make a run at the play-in tournament.

While some help on offense for Fox would help, the defense is also going to need to make strides if Sacramento wants to show some promise in the bubble.

Like most teams around the league, the Kings committed a litany of fouls; they sent the Spurs to the free throw line a ton in the opener (27 times, to be exact) and allowed the Spurs' democratic offensive style to score at will. Of the 10 players who played for San Antonio, eight scored at least eight points, and San Antonio had 32 assists on 42 made field goals.

Orlando Magic

As mentioned above, Nikola Vucevic and Co. got off to a hot start against the ailing Nets. The scoreboard shows a 10-point win, but the Magic were up 29 after three quarters.

Making 28 trips to the free throw line and making 25 of the freebies was a big reason why Orlando had this game wrapped up early. Add on a +7 rebounding margin, and the Magic were all over the Nets, who couldn’t match Orlando's size.

Steve Clifford’s crew is typically not known for its offensive excellence. The Magic play at the fifth-slowest pace in the league and have posted the fourth-worst effective field goal percentage.

But on Friday, the Magic had no problem running up and down with the rag-tag Nets; they were a fireball. Through three quarters, when the meaningful players had played a majority, the Magic had shot nearly 60% from the field.

With the win, Orlando has taken sole possession of the 7-seed in the East, and it should be smooth sailing from here with the Nets and Wizards fielding weaker rosters at this point. Orlando is going to be focused on getting back in a rhythm as a team to pose a threat to the 2-seed in the East come playoff time.

It’s worth noting that Jonathan Isaac suited up Friday after a knee injury in January seemed to rule him out for the season. Isaac logged 16 minutes in the opening tilt, and as he gets himself back into the swing of things the Magic become that much more scary. Outlier performances from Evan Fournier (10-of-15 shooting) helped Orlando take control and make it look easy against Brooklyn.

Betting Analysis & Pick

This is a tricky game to handicap, as we have seen very few teams play their second game in the bubble. Luke Walton let his young roster loose on Friday, with most key contributors playing over 30 minutes at a track meet pace. Orlando, on the other hand, had the game finished early; no one played more than 26 minutes.

Again, this line opened at Orlando -3. These two met once and played it close, and I do not think there is much separating the two ball clubs.

Sacramento has the size to check Vucevic down low and the wings to stick on Fournier and Aaron Gordon. Orlando is much more physical, and if Friday night is any indication, it should be able to get to the line at will and get the Kings into foul trouble.

Ultimately, I’m going to side with the Kings for the second time in as many games as underdogs this time. Off a loss, Sacramento (I am not counting the loss before the league suspension in this stat; I am starting fresh) – is 5-1 when the following game has a spread of less than four, according to Bet Labs.

Walton seems to have this team bounce back in projected competitive games and stay focused. Give me the Kings to respond to the opening loss and for Orlando to regress to the mean a bit after a non-competitive game. I like Sacramento down to +2.

Pick: Kings +3, would bet down to +2

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