Portland Trail Blazers vs Sacramento Kings Prediction: Kings are firm favorites here

The NBA Season has reached its concluding stages when it comes to the Regular leg but a lot of action is remaining, in fact, the action will hit another level when the Postseason arrives. Thus, we will see teams exiting one after another at a fast pace. One such team that is going to exit before the Postseason, the Portland Trail Blazers is going to take on the Sacramento Kings.

The Trail Blazers come into this game after a 90:124 loss against the Pelicans despite a 20 points and six assists performance by Keon Johnson. They have lost three in a row and nine of their last ten games. They have been struggling in the second half of the season and are out of the Play-in contention too. Thus, it is not surprising that Damian Lillard has been shut down for the rest of the season. He had another scintillating season but will he stick around with Portland which is not making the Postseason in any shape for some years now? The offseason is huge for Portland.

The Kings come into this game after losing 115:119 against the Timberwolves despite a 29 points outing by De’Aaron Fox. The Kings have lost three out of their last five games, which doesn’t actually put them in any fluctuating position because they have already captured 45 wins and 30 losses, having a firm grip on the third spot in the West. The next three games(including this one) will be against teams that are nowhere near the Postseason contention so they can get closer to a 50-win season. The Kings have one of the best offenses but their defense needs some work to sustain in the Playoffs. 

• Trail Blazers: OUT: Damian Lillard, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, Justise Winslow, Ibou Badji. DOUBTFUL: Cam Reddish, Trendon Watford;
• Kings: Nothing to report.

• Expected Leading Scorers: De’Aaron Fox(29+ Points), Sheadon Sharpe(20-25 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Domantas Sabonis(13-16 Rebounds), Drew Eubanks(8-10 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Domantas Sabonius(9-12 Assists), Keon Johnson(5-8 Assists).

The Kings have been a top-notch offensive squad and their eyes must be firmly set on the Playoffs so the current window can be utilized as a way to figure out which combinations can bring the best defensive output. The defense has been a bothering issue for the team and if in the first round, the Kings draw a match-up like Clippers/Warriors, they will have to be cautious. As for this game, I expect Sacramento to win big and predict a scoreline of 132:117 in their favor.