NBA Saturday Night Betting Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings

Rudy Gay is averaging 19.5 points per game through the Kings' first two contests.
Rudy Gay is averaging 19.5 points per game through the Kings’ first two contests.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings
Time: 9:30 PM (CT), NBA TV
Spread: MIN -1.5
Total: 204

Betting odds c/o 5dimes

The Minnesota Timberwolves disappointed the mounting bandwagon tribe opening night. Minnesota lost 102-98 to the Memphis Grizzlies on the road, and they say on the road as the team travels to Sacramento to face the Kings in their new arena. The Wolves are 1.5 point favorites for the game which will air at 9:30 central time on NBA TV.

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Opening night, the Wolves got strong play front its frontcourt. Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Gorgui Dieng combined to shoot 21 of 44 for 58 points and 21 rebounds, outpacing the Grizzlies frontcourt by 13 points and five boards. It still was not enough, given that Mike Conley thoroughly outplayed Ricky Rubio. Rubio had four points and eight assists, but Conley shot 8 of 14 and 4 of 5 from three-point range en route to 24 points, four assists and a board.

Despite that, the Grizz were -3 in Conley’s 30 minutes of court time. That is perplexing, but the fact is the Wolves are a team that still has a lot of growing to do, and Memphis is a tough veteran squad that is still going to claw its way to near 50 wins. There are worse opening night losses.

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The majority of the hype in the Northwest seems to settle around Towns. He put together one of the finest rookie seasons from a big man since Tim Duncan, and that comparison has been thrown around some, howsoever unfair it may be. Towns had 21 points, four rebounds and five assists against the Grizzlies, and last season he averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game while shooting 54 percent from the floor.

Encouraging to see was Towns’ five three-point attempts, especially considering he hit two of them. Last year he shot 34.4 percent from three, but he attempted just 1.1 per game. That figure can stand to at least double, while sustaining five attempts a game is clearly not realistic. He is a big that can shoot the rock, though, and Towns really can do a little bit of everything. The Duncan comparison is good—just lofty.

The Sacramento Kings are 1-1 after a win over the Phoenix Suns and a loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The Kings looked pretty good in the L to San Antonio, shining early and jumping out to an early lead in the first quarter. For a team that has had so much turnover and is again coached by a first-year coach, the Kings appear to be on the verge of turning some kind of corner.

DeMarcus Cousins is averaging 30 points, 11 rebounds and two assists per game this season in just 31 minutes a night, and Rudy Gay has been his typical scoring self with 19.5 points per game and the team’s second-highest PER. Ty Lawson has not been so great statistically, but he is doing a better job of running the team than his humble eight point, eight assist average might suggest.

Lawson has been composed and has kept his turnovers (way) down. He boasts a 5.3 Assist-to-Turnover ratio, and though in many respects his play has been average…average is actually a good thing for a Kings team that has not made the postseason in a decade. Sacramento will (likely) have a tough time even with a young Wolves team favored by just 1.5 points.

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Trends – Minnesota at Sacramento

C/o Covers.com
ATS TRENDS
Minnesota
  • Timberwolves are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games.
  • Timberwolves are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
  • Timberwolves are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Saturday games.
  • Timberwolves are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 2 days rest.
  • Timberwolves are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.
  • Timberwolves are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of less than .400.
Sacramento
  • Kings are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up loss.
  • Kings are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games.
  • Kings are 9-3-1 ATS in their last 13 games overall.
  • Kings are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. Western Conference.
  • Kings are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games playing on 1 days rest.
  • Kings are 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
  • Kings are 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 home games.
  • Kings are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record.
  • Kings are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
  • Kings are 15-38-2 ATS in their last 55 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.
  • Kings are 5-14 ATS in their last 19 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400.

OU TRENDS:

Minnesota
  • Under is 4-0 in Timberwolves last 4 games playing on 2 days rest.
  • Over is 4-1 in Timberwolves last 5 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of less than .400.
  • Over is 20-8-1 in Timberwolves last 29 road games.
  • Under is 5-2 in Timberwolves last 7 vs. NBA Pacific.
  • Over is 21-10-1 in Timberwolves last 32 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Sacramento
  • Under is 4-0 in Kings last 4 overall.
  • Under is 4-0 in Kings last 4 vs. a team with a losing straight up record.
  • Under is 4-0 in Kings last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400.
  • Under is 4-0 in Kings last 4 vs. Western Conference.
  • Under is 5-1 in Kings last 6 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.
  • Under is 5-1 in Kings last 6 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
  • Under is 4-1 in Kings last 5 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
  • Under is 5-2 in Kings last 7 vs. NBA Northwest.
  • Over is 7-3 in Kings last 10 Saturday games.

HEAD TO HEAD:

  • Timberwolves are 6-0 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
  • Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
  • Timberwolves are 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Sacramento.
  • Under is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Sacramento.
  • Underdog is 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings.
  • Road team is 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings.
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