NBA Basketball
2012-01-04 - Sacramento Kings at Denver Nuggets
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Wednesday 4 January 2012 - Tip Off 9pm ET
2am (British Standard Time)
Preview
After trading away Carmelo Anthony last season, many expected the Denver Nuggets (4-2) to have a really tough time recovering, but the pieces they received from the New York Knicks has helped them rebuild far sooner. They have been playing brilliantly since trading Anthony, and have started this season in good form.
Denver suffered back to back defeats recently, but have bounced back from that time to win consecutive games as they look to maintain their unbeaten start at home. They could still be without Nene tonight after the big man missed the win over Milwaukee last time out, but the likes of Al Harrington and Danilo Galinari have really upped their games to cover the absence.
The Nuggets should feel confident they can win this game against the Sacramento Kings (2-4), a team that has been in a little bit of disarray since DeMarcus Cousins demanded a trade and was told to stay away from the team on Sunday night.
Cousins returned to the team on their road trip yesterday, but had to take his place on the bench and was given 22 minutes playing time as the Kings were blown out by the Memphis Grizzlies. Head Coach, Paul Westphal, has admitted that things have not settled down with Cousins.
This is actually the middle game of 3 consecutive games for the Kings.
Head to Head
The home team had actually won 9 games in a row in the series before Denver won in Sacramento last January in their last meeting.
Denver are 3-1-1 against the spread in their last 5 home games against Sacramento.
Denver are 5-1 against the spread this season, Sacramento are 2-4.
Denver are 3-0 against the spread as the favourite this season, Sacramento are 1-4 as the underdog.
Other Interesting Trends
Denver are 15-4-2 against the spread in their last 21 games against a team with a winning record of under 40% on the road.
Sacramento are 1-6-1 against the spread in their last 8 games played on back to back nights.
Prediction
I am going to back the Denver Nuggets to win and cover the spread for the following reasons:
First, Sacramento have really struggled when playing in the second of back to back nights and have been bothered by the DeMarcus Cousins demands for a move.
Second, Denver have performed well at home all season and against Sacramento in recent games here.
Third, Denver have performed very well under the expectation of being a big favourite at home, going 6-0-1 against the spread when favoured by more than 8 points in recent games.
The Pick :
Denver Nuggets 108-95 Sacramento Kings
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Denver Nuggets - 11.5 Points @ 1.92