Sacramento Kings vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Predictions, Picks and NBA Preview – February 8, 2016

Home has been sweet for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who own an Eastern Conference-best 20-4 record at home. On the other hand, the road has been a house of horrors for the Sacramento Kings, who’ve dropped their last five games away from home. Can the Kings get rid of their struggles on the road against the East’s best team, or will LeBron James and his Cavaliers defend the ‘Land?

Read on as we break down this primetime matchup. And if you’re looking for more NBA action, then check out our complete preview for the Raptors vs. Pistons.

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Sacramento Kings vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Preview

Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland

When: Monday, February 8, 7:00 PM ET

Line: Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers – view all NBA lines

Betting on the Sacramento Kings (21-30)

The Sacramento Kings are just a handful of games behind Utah for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs, but their disappointing level of play on the road has not helped them one bit. The Kings have lost their last five away from home and face a very tough Cleveland Cavaliers team Monday night.

Most recently, the Kings lost 128-119 at Boston on Sunday afternoon. They allowed the Celtics to make 56 percent of their field goals and 54.2 percent of their three-pointers in a horrible defensive outing. At least Sacramento did have a couple of bright spots in Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins.

Rondo was spectacular, doing everything for the team with his 14 points, 15 assists, six steals and five rebounds. Cousins, meanwhile, was his usual dominant self with 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists. However, Boogie had a low-light in that game as well when his layup attempt under the basket was blocked by 5-foot-9 Isaiah Thomas. Cousins will have some bigger-bodied defenders this time around, as he’s now set to face Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao. He better not humiliate himself against guys his own size, that’s for sure.

With Sacramento’s third scoring option in Rudy Gay potentially missing yet another game with an ankle injury, the Kings will rely heavily on their dynamic duo once more, hopefully with some help from the likes of Omri Casspi. The backup forward from Israel scored 13 points on 6 of 16 shooting in Gay’s absence at Boston.

The Kings are 0-4-1 ATS in their last five on the road.

Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers (36-14)

The Cleveland Cavaliers started off their current home stand with a last-second, 104-103 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday. But afterwards, they rebounded with a dominant 99-84 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans the next day. The Cavs remain very dangerous because they can attack in a number of ways.

For one, there’s Kyrie Irving, who’s finally feeling it after a slow start following his recovery from a shattered kneecap in Game 1 of last season’s NBA Finals. Irving scored 29 in Saturday’s win over the Pelicans, bumping his scoring average to 24.7 points per game in his last six games. Then there’s LeBron James, who’s been virtually unstoppable by scoring 26.6 points per game on 48 percent shooting in his last five.

Kevin Love could also be a dominant force against Sacramento, but he’s questionable to play due to a quad contusion. If Love plays on Monday night, then the Cavs may be close to unstoppable against the Kings, as he averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds in two games against Sacramento last season. He also had a total of five threes in those games. And as a whole, Cleveland’s Big Three combined for 63 points in a 101-90 home win against Sacramento last season.

Without Love, though, J.R. Smith might have a big game just as well as the team’s three-point specialist. He’s made a whopping 19 threes on 45 percent shooting in his last four games combined. With that in mind, do note that the Kings are allowing a league-high 10.6 three-pointers per contest this season.

The Cavs are 3-1 SU/ATS in their last four games at home.

Writer’s Prediction

The Cavs blow out Sacramento.

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