Don Anthony
Phoenix Suns -5.5
This Phoenix Suns team has not quit on the season. They were impressive in their wins against the Rockets and Pelicans and tonight shouldn't be any different. Sacramento is in a huge letdown spot after beating OKC outright in the last game at Sleep Train arena. That was basically the Kings Super Bowl for this season. Now they have to get up for the Suns? I don't think so. Tend to lean towards the over as well.
TONY FINN
Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns
Play: Phoenix Suns -6
It has been everything but a storybook season for the Sacramento Kings. The team has played their final game at Sleep Train Arena, the feud between head coach George Karl and All Star center DeMarcus Cousins was never resolved and the Kings front-court star will sit the rest of the season. The Suns have morphed from dysfunctional to adequate due to talented youth. After a 7-5 start to the 2015-16 campaign the Suns have a whopping total of 22 wins to hang their headbands on, with two possible winning situations remaining, beginning tonight when the host the Kings.
Both the Suns and the Kings are lottery bound, but for one of these two franchises, it hasn’t stopped them from giving their all on the court of the final month. The Suns aim to secure their second three-game winning streak of the season tonight as the Kings had their signature win in their last game, the final at the “Train” and emotional 114-112 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
The Suns are getting production from unexpected player personnel. Archie Goodwin scored 24 points and Mizra Teletovic added 22 to lead the Suns in a 121-100 rout over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, giving Phoenix consecutive road victories for only the second time this season.
"We've had a lot of injuries and other stuff going on, but we continue to fight through them," Goodwin said. "It just shows the character of this team. No matter what's going on, we're staying positive."
The same can’t be said for the Kings who have question marks surrounding many of their current players and coaching staff. Who will stay on to take part in the 2016-17 season and who will go are still big question marks.
The Suns are currently under the leadership of player-friendly head coach Earl Watson, who's served as interim bench boss since the firing of Jeff Hornacek on Feb. 1. The players sincerely would like to see Watson be awarded the head job for next season but nothing has been determined for next year’s coaching container.
"That's just not on our minds right now," Goodwin said. "The coaching thing is out of our control and we're going to keep playing hard until the end. That's a big part of being a professional."
The Suns would also like to give their home town faithful a win. Phoenix has lost three straight and 20 of their last 25 home games.
Kings
Sacramento’s playoffs, or big time emotional effort, came on Saturday night in the team’s final affair at Sleep Train Arena. The Kings are moving their practice and games to the new downtown Golden 1 Arena next season. Albeit a nothing win in relation to the standings or playoff picture for the Kings on Saturday, the game was emotional and a victory secured by an all out emotional effort by the active players on the roster.
"These are some of the best fans in the NBA and we knew how bad they wanted a win," said guard Seth Curry, who executed a career-high by making six 3-pointers and scoring a solid 20 points. "It was something we wanted to do for the fans."
There was a big game effort from guard Darren Collison who recorded a season-high 27 points and eight assists. Center DeMarcus Cousins even played, scoring 15 points and securing seven rebounds, but fouled out with 3:26 remaining and struggled throughout, missing 17 of 24 shots. Cousins all but announced that it was his last game this season telling the media he didn’t think he would play in the final two games. His future with the team is uncertain.
The Kings have won five of the last six meetings against the Suns and averaged 129 points in the past two. The Suns are dead set on rewarding the fans with a win over the Kings at Talking Stick Resort Arena tonight, aiming to duplicate the early season 118-97 win over Cousins and the Kings in early November.
Suns
Phoenix has undergone a youth movement and the leader of the group is rookie Devin Booker. The first-year sharp shooter is a mere 19 years of age but has transformed himself into a dependable scorer for the team and is the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 career points. Injuries to veterans Eric Bledsoe (knee) and Brandon Knight (hernia) opened the door of opportunity for Booker and he is arguably, as the youngest on the team, also the most dependable player on the roster by scoring in double digits in 22 of the past 23 games.
Forward Mirza Teletovic is an unrestricted free agent after the season and the 30-year-old has done all he can to improve his league stock in recent weeks. Teltovic has scored 22 or more points in four of the past five games and is averaging 21.6 points during the stretch while raising his season mark to 11.9. Teletovic has been dynamite from 3-point range and his 175 makes are the most by a reserve in NBA history.
Outlook
The Kings are expected to be docile tonight. The squad will be without Cousins and PG Rajon Rondo in tonight’s game. Expect tonight’s Western Conference affair to be nothing short of one sided with the Suns covering by halftime and stretching that lead in the third and fourth stanza’s of tonight’s event.
EXECUTIVE SPORTS
Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns
Play: Phoenix Suns -6
Both of these teams are out of the playoffs. Both teams have been hot ATS as of late. Suns are returning home from their 3 game road trip, as their last 2 games are at home. Sacramento goes out on the road for their final 2 games of the season after just upsetting Oklahoma City as an 8.5 home underdog. Phoenix coming off a 52% shooting performance from the field, and they bring that hot momentum back home and perform well in front of their home crowd. Suns win by a dozen tonight.
Rob Veno
Sacramento at Phoenix
Play: Sacramento +6
Pair of non-playoff teams with different perceptions on how they’re approaching these meaningless final games. Phoenix is a team people see as still giving effort while Sacramento is a disgruntled group that can’t wait for the season to end. To some extent, that’s why Phoenix is favored by any amount in this matchup and the -6 that we see right now has the absence of Kings top player DeMarcus Cousins tacked on to it. The Suns have a key injury of their own as Archie Goodwin who has played very well down the stretch is expected to miss tonight’s game. That leaves Phoenix with just one PG (Ronnie Price) and puts the Suns' backcourt at a distinct disadvantage in this game. Rajon Rondo should play tonight but even if he doesn’t, the combination of Darren Collison (27 pts yesterday), Seth Curry (averaging 17.0 pts L5G) plus shooting guards James Anderson and Ben McLemore gives Sacramento four guards who are playing hard and will own talent and depth advantages tonight. Phoenix isn’t significantly better than Sacramento at the C position even with Cousins on the bench because rookie backup Willie Cauley-Stein has played well down the stretch. There are really no fundamental advantages in this game for Phoenix which makes the price tag seem very heavy. Home floor means little to nothing since Phoenix is 3-8 ATS its last 11 games as a home favorite and despite the perception, Sacramento is closing strong going 9-3 ATS in its last 12. Kings have been a decent pointspread underdog this year but in this price range (+6.5 to +9), they’ve gone 5-1. They’ve also been pretty good in the second of back-to-back situations going 11-8 ATS. Have to give them a look here against an opponent they match up well with.