Clippers vs Kings Odds, Pick, Prediction | NBA Betting Preview (Tuesday, April 2)

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

A California battle takes place Tuesday evening when the Clippers visit the Kings in Sacramento. The Clippers are working to remain in the 4-seed while the Kings look to advance out of the play-in tonight. Which team has the edge?

Let's take a look in our Clippers vs. Kings pick.

The Clippers come in to this one on the last game of a road trip, but coming back to California certainly is a plus for them. They have no notable injuries to report at the time of writing.

On the season, the Clippers have the seventh-best Net Rating (+5.0), but that has actually slipped to -0.9 since the All-Star break, per NBA Advanced Stats. They have been led by elite offense, while the defense has been passable on the season.

One of the players they actually missed a bit was Russell Westbrook. While Westbrook is a net negative on the season, his role as an innings eater is important. He has a -6.1 point differential, but that's better than Amir Coffey (-8.9) and they no longer have Nicolas Batum to pivot to in his absence.

When James Harden and Westbrook were off the floor, the team has a -1.2 Net Rating, and when both were on the floor the team has a -0.4 Net Rating. However, when either Harden or Westbrook were on the floor, the team had a +6.6 point differential, per Cleaning the Glass. Westbrook allows the Clippers to stagger their primary ball handlers and he can effectively navigate the primarily bench unit minutes.

The Kings have suffered two significant injuries of late. Kevin Huerter will undergo season-ending left shoulder surgery, but the new news is that Malik Monk was diagnosed with a sprained right MCL and is expected to miss about a month from today. I wrote about the betting implications of this in this week's edition of the Player Props Forecast.

The Kings have been an odd team this season. They are 18th in Net Rating (+1.3) with about league-average marks on both offense and defense. No one is surprised by them, they are not an underdog, they just are the 7-seed in the West.

One of the problems the Kings are facing is they lack depth. Monk was the favorite for Sixth Man of the Year and Huerter was a sniper from long range with a +2.3 point differential. This means significantly more minutes for both Harrison Barnes and Davion Mitchell, two players with -7.0 and -9.9 point differential's on the season, respectively, per Cleaning the Glass.

The margins are thin for Sacramento and they will be leaning more on their starting unit with their lack of depth.

This is a rough matchup for the Kings. Even though the Clippers have faltered a bit since the break, the Kings' injuries are piling up at the wrong time.

The Clippers have taken two of the three contests between the two this season and could capture the season series with a win here. While the Kings have been excellent at home, the Clippers have been one of the league's best teams on the road as well with a 25-14 record SU. While they struggle to cover in those spots, with the spread at under one possession, I don't mind laying the points.

Pick: Clippers -2

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