After both teams made the playoffs in the Western Conference last season, the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings will go head-to-head in an early-season matchup on Sunday. Each team is off to a 1-1 start with the Kings beating the Jazz but losing to the Warriors over their first two games. The Lakers were beaten soundly by the Nuggets in the season-opener but defeated the short-handed Suns on Thursday. Sacramento has won outright and covered the spread in six of the last 10 head-to-head meetings between these two in-state rivals
Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Sacramento is favored by 2.5 points in the latest Kings vs. Lakers odds from the SportsLine consensus, while the over/under is 235 points. Before entering any Lakers vs. Kings picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past four-plus seasons. The model finished the 2022-23 NBA season on a 72-39 roll on all top-rated NBA picks, returning nearly $2,800. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Los Angeles vs. Sacramento. You can head to SportsLine to see its NBA picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Lakers vs. Kings:
Kings vs. Lakers spread: Kings -2.5
Kings vs. Lakers over/under: 235 points
Kings vs. Lakers money line: Kings -142, Lakers +120
Kings vs. Lakers picks: See picks here
What you need to know about the Lakers
Los Angeles is coming off a 43-39 season where it finished seventh in the West and had to earn its way into the 2023 NBA Playoffs through the play-in tournament. However, the Lakers were able to dispatch the Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors on their way to the Western Conference Finals before being swept by the Nuggets.
LeBron James is now in his 21st season and with the in-season tournament and new rules threatening heavy fines for resting players, the Lakers are attempting to cap the superstar’s minutes at 28-30 per night. However, James exceeded that limit to play 35 minutes in a win over the Suns on Thursday and it’s clear that there will be instances where he’s let loose, particularly against fellow contenders in the West.
What you need to know about the Kings
The Kings finished as the No. 3 seed last year but were eliminated in the first round by the Warriors in a thrilling seven-game series. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis headline an impressive young roster and Sacramento led the NBA in scoring (120.7 ppg) and offensive rating (119.4) in 2022-23.
The offense looks similarly explosive in the early going, earning a 130-114 win over the Jazz on opening night and then suffering a 122-114 defeat to Golden State on Friday. Fox, Sabonis and Harrison Barnes are all averaging over 20 points per game over the first two contests and they’ll look to push the pace against an aging Lakers roster that they beat in three of four head-to-head matchups last season.
How to make Kings vs. Lakers picks
The model has simulated Lakers vs. Kings 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is leaning Over and it’s also generated a point-spread pick where one side hits almost 60% of the time. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.