Magic vs. Kings Prediction Will the Sacramento Kings get back on track when they play host to the Orlando Magic tonight at 10PM ET? Game Snapshot & Odds 587 Orlando Magic vs. 588 Sacramento Kings Monday, January 7, 2019 10PM ET – Golden 1 Center Compare odds and from multiple different online sportsbooks and shop for the best lines at our new NBA Odds & Betting Page. Public Betting Trends According to oddsmakers at BetNow.eu, the Kings are favored at home, as they are getting odds of -5.5 points against the Magic. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 221.5 points. The public betting for this game currently has 67 percent going on the Kings at home. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our NBA Public Betting Page for updated figures on the game. Magic on West Coast road trip Orlando is in the midst of a road trip that has headed out West. They are 1-3 in their four games on this trip, including a 106-96 loss at the Clippers, failing to cover in their losses. The Magic are 17-22 on the season, 7-11 on the road, 20-19 against the spread and 23-16 with the under. The Magic have been struggling to find consistency on offense, averaging 103.4 points per game while shooting just 44.6 percent from the field. Defensively, Orlando is allowing just 107.2 points per game while allowing opponents to shoot 37.2 percent from the arc. Nikola Vucevic is leading the team with 20.2 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Aaron Gordon is adding 15.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest. Kings looking to stop the bleeding The Sacramento Kings are riding a four-game losing streak right now following a 127-123 loss at home to the Golden State Warriors. They are just 1-5 against the spread in their last six games. Sacramento is 19-20 on the season, 10-10 at home, 22-17 against the spread and 27-12 with the over. Sacramento has a great offense this season, averaging 115.2 points per game while shooting 38.9 percent from the arc. Defensively, the Kings are giving up 117 points per game while allowing opponents to shoot 47.4 percent from the field. Marvin Bagley III is questionable for tonight’s game with a knee injury while Iman Shumpert is questionable with a finger injury. Buddy Hield is leading the team this season with 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while De’Aaron Fox is adding 17.8 points and 7.5 assists per game. NBA Betting Trends Orlando The Magic are 1-5 against the spread in their last six road games and have failed to cover in four straight against Western Conference opponents. Sacramento The Kings are 10-1 against the spread in their last 11 games against Southeast Division opponents and 20-6 ATS in their last 26 games against Eastern Conference opponents. Prediction: Both teams are in a funk right now, but Orlando is on the road in the West Coast and I don’t see that leading to a lot of good results. The Kings can score in bunches and Orlando just doesn’t have the guard play to be able to match the scoring Sacramento will do at home tonight. Even with the injuries, the Kings should be able to handle covering this spread. NBA Prediction: Sacramento Kings -5.5<doc-sep>SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 7: Bogdan Bogdanovic #8 of the Sacramento Kings shoots the ball against the Orlando Magic on January 7, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) The Sacramento Kings had the Orlando Magic backpedaling from the start and the Magic never caught up as their shots continued to miss. Orlando Magic 95 Sacramento Kings 111 From the very beginning of the game, the Orlando Magic clearly were not into the game. The first two baskets for the Sacramento Kings came on Willie Cauley-Stein alley-oop lobs without much of any resistance for the guard coming down the lane or the lobber rolling to the hoop. It did not help toward the end of the first quarter when De’Aaron Fox stole an inbound pass for a dunk. Then not a minute later, stole another one to take for a two-handed jam. If that sounds like it is on repeat, that is because it is. The Magic were sloppy from the start, both with their defensive attention to detail and their offensive execution. And the Kings took advantage over and over and over again. Sacramento led by as much as 29 points and would have run away with it if not for a fourth-quarter rally from the Magic’s deep bench players. The game was well decided by then. Sacramento ran away with an 111-95 win over Orlando at the Golden 1 Center on Monday. The Magic again struggled to shoot, hitting on just 36.8 percent from the floor. It was similar to the loss to the LA Clippers where the team struggled to get much of anything going in the paint outside of Nikola Vucevic‘s paint touches. Turnovers were a big problem as the Kings forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter and 16 for the game. Frustration only grew as the team could not hit the open shots it did get and the Kings got into runouts and in transition thanks to them all. Sacramento plays at the fastest pace in the league. So missing 3-pointers — Orlando was 13 for 37 — and turning the ball over only feeds the ability to get easy shots. The Kings did that over and over again. They worked to find open shots in transition. But even without that, Sacramento attacked with virtual impunity. Orlando was not giving a lot of resistance. The game was pretty much over early on without that effort. Nikola Vucevic the ball more in the post. They needed those paint touches just to try to get the defense to collapse. Vucevic was solid as always down on the block with 18 points and 13 rebound son 7-for-14 shooting. Nothing to complain about there. When Vucevic did get doubled, he made the right play and tried to get shooters open. Those shots were not hitting. It is a tough trend. And slowly Vucevic came away from the basket. His defensive attention to detail was left wanting. He was not physical enough on rollers and struggled to contain ball handlers. The Sacramento Kings had free reign in the paint. And despite some initial adjustments, it felt like the dam was open. " > NIKOLA VUCEVIC C, Orlando Magic C+ With the Orlando Magic struggling to make shots, the team made it a focus to get Nikola Vucevic the ball more in the post. They needed those paint touches just to try to get the defense to collapse. Vucevic was solid as always down on the block with 18 points and 13 rebound son 7-for-14 shooting. Nothing to complain about there. When Vucevic did get doubled, he made the right play and tried to get shooters open. Those shots were not hitting. It is a tough trend. And slowly Vucevic came away from the basket. His defensive attention to detail was left wanting. He was not physical enough on rollers and struggled to contain ball handlers. The Sacramento Kings had free reign in the paint. And despite some initial adjustments, it felt like the dam was open. " > Evan Fournier was one of the few Orlando Magic players making shots at a fairly consistent level. He made four of his eight shots and four of his six 3-pointers. He was able to spread the floor and generally make shots. If anything the Magic could not use him enough. But the team was not getting much outside of his scoring from Evan Fournier. He was among the players trying to force some creation and he struggled in that role, committing three turnovers. More than that, Evan Fournier struggled to chase Buddy Hield around screens. In the third quarter, as the Kings turned the game into a rout, Fournier was constantly caught on screens and struggled to fight through them. Hield finished with 13, but they were all big shots in that critical third-quarter run. " > EVAN FOURNIER G/F, Orlando Magic C+ Evan Fournier was one of the few Orlando Magic players making shots at a fairly consistent level. He made four of his eight shots and four of his six 3-pointers. He was able to spread the floor and generally make shots. If anything the Magic could not use him enough. But the team was not getting much outside of his scoring from Evan Fournier. He was among the players trying to force some creation and he struggled in that role, committing three turnovers. More than that, Evan Fournier struggled to chase Buddy Hield around screens. In the third quarter, as the Kings turned the game into a rout, Fournier was constantly caught on screens and struggled to fight through them. Hield finished with 13, but they were all big shots in that critical third-quarter run. " > Aaron Gordon. Orlando wants him to be more aggressive and assertive. And largely Aaron Gordon has been good at that and good at picking his spots. He is still taking plenty of open shots. But those shots are not falling. Gordon made just 3 of his 13 shots to score 10 points. He still added nine rebounds, but his one assist shows both how little he was getting teammates involved and how much he was forcing his own offense again. It is not as bad as it was at times last year when it felt like Gordon was in it for himself. But his shot is not falling at all right now. And that has disrupted the team’s rhythm. Things got worse tonight because Gordon struggled defensively. His effort felt inconsistent on that end. It was a bad game from Gordon all around. " > AARON GORDON F, Orlando Magic D No one seems to be guilty of the offensive frustration this team is facing more than Aaron Gordon . Orlando wants him to be more aggressive and assertive. And largely Aaron Gordon has been good at that and good at picking his spots. He is still taking plenty of open shots. But those shots are not falling. Gordon made just 3 of his 13 shots to score 10 points. He still added nine rebounds, but his one assist shows both how little he was getting teammates involved and how much he was forcing his own offense again. It is not as bad as it was at times last year when it felt like Gordon was in it for himself. But his shot is not falling at all right now. And that has disrupted the team’s rhythm. Things got worse tonight because Gordon struggled defensively. His effort felt inconsistent on that end. It was a bad game from Gordon all around. " > Isaiah Briscoe has had some opportunity in garbage time to show what he can do. His big body has stood out and he has done a good job mixing things up. That is clearly what the Orlando Magic want him to do. With the Magic struggling, they needed a change.<doc-sep>You thought, at one point, that this team would finally make the playoffs. Unfortunately, those hopes were only further diminished as the Orlando Magic suffered their third bad loss in a row, falling to the Sacramento Kings 111-95. Nikola Vucevic, who you thought would be an All-Star, was the best player for the Magic, with 18 points and 13 rebounds in just 25 minutes. He shot 50%, while the team as whole only hit 37% of their shots. De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 20 points and 5 steals, adding more fuel to the Kings’ surprise success season, the kind you thought the Magic were having. Those steals were part of the turnover problems that plagued the Magic all night, leading to 27 points for Sacramento. You thought the Magic might be in position to hang tight with the Kings through the first 10 minutes of the game, playing solid enough defense and getting to the line 13 times in the quarter to compensate for their poor shooting. You were disappointed, although probably not surprised, when both the defense and the free throws vanished, allowing the Kings to run up a significant lead in the second quarter. D.J. Augustin, whose surprising success you thought would mask the Magic’s point guard problems, was just 1-6 and struggled to deal with the Kings’ athleticism and speed. Aaron Gordon also struggled, especially with his shot selection, a collection of stepbacks and fadeaways as part of a 3-13 shooting night. Jonathon Simmons, who somebody must have thought would fix the Magic’s point guard problems, scored 0 points. Steve Clifford, a coach you thought was producing results with his hard-nosed attitude, said after the game that “You guys see the numbers. We have struggled when D.J.’s out of the game. We’ve struggled when Vuc is out of the game.” You thought the players were good enough, with the right encouragement, and you thought the team had adopted Clifford’s “toughness.” You thought, in a weak Eastern Conference, that the Magic had a chance to push for the 8th seed, and you were excited when they bounced back from a 2-6 start to the season. You’re probably going to be upset when the team isn’t tanking properly in March and April, taking close wins over other lousy teams and pushing themselves from 4th or 5th to 6th or 7th. I thought a lot of these things, too, for a little while. Not so much, anymore.<doc-sep>
The Sacramento Kings have now lost four winnable games in a row by about five points on average, so it must be nice feeling for the Kings players to look at the schedule and see the 17-22 Orlando Magic - a team that is certainly not on the caliber of the Warriors, Trailblazers, or Nuggets. The Magic are, to borrow from their own star Aaron Gordon, “just lazy, undisciplined and soft.” The Magic are struggling where the Kings excel, coming in at 26th in the NBA in pace with a rating of 97.1. Despite the recent losses, the Kings are still one of the leading teams in pace - coming at #2 in the NBA with a rating of 103.5. FWIW, the team leading the NBA in pace is... the 12-27 Atlanta Hawks. It’s fine to play fast if there’s a complimentary defensive scheme in place. The Kings are developing that. The Hawks? Well, former King and Magic-man Vince Carter may very well end up as an Eastern Conference All-Star. Let’s get to the game. When: Saturday, January 7th, 7:00 PM PST Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA TV: NBCSCA Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM For Your Consideration One of the more embarrassing stats for the Kings as a franchise is the average attendance this season. The early success may have caught Sacramento by surprise - I personally know a lot more people making their way to Golden 1 Center to take in a game, but the anecdote doesn’t translate to the numbers. Right now, the Kings are 22nd in the NBA in average attendance. Sacramento averages 16.8k fans a game. The Cleveland Cavaliers average 19.4k. We should have higher numbers than this, especially given that the team is on the rise. So let’s do our part as Royals of Sactown - Last season, we were able to raise enough money to send over 1200 foster children to a Kings game. As a human being who was displaced early and raised in foster care, this carries a lot of personal weight for me. Basketball provided a fulcrum of stability to my life that I still employ today. So, how about it fans? #HereWeGive! To donate, just click here and select how many tickets you want to purchase. Once you donate, that’s it! The tickets are automatically sourced, and the Kings and Ticket to Dream will distribute them to deserving youths. The game is on February 4th against the San Antonio Spurs, so even if you can’t donate now, the link will be open for a while and should give us plenty of time. Tickets cost $20 flat without fees, and for every ticket sold, the Kings will match and donate another ticket, so even one donation helps send two kids to the game. Back to the Magic - if the Kings have a single area they can point to when examining their recent comebacks / collapses, it’s REBOUNDING. Having Marvin Bagley available tonight should help, but the Kings need to tighten up on the boards. Opponents know that if they can have one or two players commit to challenge for every rebound, there’s a good chance the Kings will be too slow / unaware to react. Consistently challenging for (and winning) offensive rebounds is the most effective way to knock the Kings off their desired pace. On that note, look out for Nikola Vučević. Slower, ground-bound, board-gobbling machines seem to thrive against the Kings, and if he’s pulling in 15 or more, this will be a competitive game. I don’t think we’ll see any Magic player earn that 5x5 statline that Nurkic dropped last week, but Vučević could very well be a problem for Willie Cauley-Stein and Nemanja Bjelica. What do you think? Check out SactownRoyalty’s prediction thread and let us know! Prediction De’Aaron Fox plays at 75% speed and still ends up with 20+ points and 8+ assists, Buddy Hield continues lighting the net on fire, and Justin Jackson turns in another big scoring game - perhaps another new career high? Vucevic finishes with 24 and 13 in a Orlando Magic loss. Kings 126, Magic 109 Please enjoy this special look at the Bogdan Bogdanovic game-winner from our #Lensface, Kimani Okearah. Please share / retweet if you enjoy the piece!