Kings vs Spurs Betting Preview: Sacramento Ready To Light Up SA
Visiting Kings Will Crown Struggling Spurs
NBA Odds Imply Kings Win a High-Scoring Game
The Sacramento Kings are ready to turn it up in San Antonio. Opening as 5.5-point favorites, the NBA odds also see a high total with 232.5 points. Only the Suns-Jazz game has a higher number. That means that the offense-oriented Kings should outdo the Spurs in a game with lax defending. Given how they have looked recently, the Kings vs Spurs betting odds are justified. So can Sac Town deliver as road favorites?
Sacramento Kings vs San Antonio Spurs 
(6-4) | (3-8)
Location: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX
Day/Time: Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Stream: ESPN
Be Rich Like the Kings
If we add last season’s stats, the Kings are a nice 15-9-0 ATS for a 62.5% cover rate. That is tied as the second-best rate among NBA teams with 10+ games as a road favorite. And in their last 20 road games, the Kings are a sterling 15-5-0 ATS. These guys cash bets.
Sacramento’s secret to success used to be its high-powered offense. This team led the NBA in offensive rating last season (119.4). But this year, Sacramento has sacrificed some offense to get better on the other end. The Kings are now ranked 14th in defensive rating (112.6), which is a significant improvement from last basketball season: 25th at 116.8.
We should also take these stats with a grain of salt as De’Aaron Fox, the team’s star point guard, missed half the games. With him, Sacramento is 4-1 on both the moneyline and spread when being betting on NBA.
Fox significantly raises the Kings’ ceiling. The team is estimated to be 20.4 points better when he’s on the court. Their offensive rating shoots up from 107.1 without him to a whopping 123.9. And that’s nothing to sneeze at when the team played the Warriors and the Lakers (twice), two decent defenses, in three of the five games.
Fox also loves to play against San Antonio. In 16 career games against the Spurs, he averages 23.6 points and 6.1 assists while shooting 52.1% from the field. The Kings are 9-7 against SA when he plays, hence why they’re comfortable favorites here per the Kings vs Spurs betting odds.
The Best Bet Could Be the Total When the Spurs Play
After starting 3-2, the wheels have fallen off this Spurs bandwagon. Losers of six straight, the Spurs are getting lit up due to their porous defense. Victor Wembanyama and Zach Collins form a formidable big-man duo. But that has not stopped teams from averaging 124 points against them, which is the most. As such, the total has gone over in nine of their 11 games.
Opponents also average nearly 50% from the field and 40.2% from 3 against San Antonio. These are the highest and second-highest, respectively. This is to be expected from a rebuilding team that already finished dead-last in defensive rating (123.1) last season. That’s why SA continues to flounder in the NBA standings 2023.
“I’m not being a wise guy,” Popovich said on Oct. 16 in relation to the Spurs’ defense last year. “I don’t know what else to tell you. We sucked.”
Indeed, not even the addition of Wembanyama can shore up the Spurs’ lack of stopping power. Teams score at will versus the Spurs. And the only two times the total went under were the two games SA scored under 90 points.
So even as a 5.5-point underdog, it could be tough to make the Spurs an NBA picks today. This team is only 4-7 ATS and 2-3 ATS at home. San Antonio has a -4.1 net rating at home. The totals all went over (5-0) with the Spurs giving up 121.2 points, the second-most.
As far as the Kings vs Spurs betting odds, 232.5 points may not be enough.
For NBA betting news, odds analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
