Sacramento Kings vs Golden State Warriors Game 1 Prediction and Odds: 2023 NBA Playoffs

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The Golden State Warriors begin their title defense as the road team against the Sacramento Kings, who are part of an NBA playoff bracket for the first time since 2006. The Warriors are favored to win the series, but the Kings are a 1.5-point favorite in Game 1 this Saturday.

Prediction 1

Sacramento Kings -1.5

10/11 (-110)

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Prediction 2

Kevin Huerter Over 2.5 Made Threes

4/5 (-125)

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These odds from William Hill were correct at the time of writing.

Sacramento Kings vs Golden State Warriors – Game Predictions

Contents

1 Sacramento Kings vs Golden State Warriors – Game Predictions
- 1.1 Prediction 1: Sacramento Kings to Cover the Spread (-1.5)
- 1.2 Prediction 2: Kevin Huerter Over 2.5 Made Threes
2 Kings vs Warriors Preview – All About Homecourt?
3 Sacramento Kings vs Golden State Warriors Game Details

The Golden State Warriors (44-38) are only the No. 6 seed this year, but very few games separated most of the playoff field in the Western Conference. The Sacramento Kings (48-34) are the No. 3 seed after a long playoff drought finally came to an end this year.

Prediction 1: Sacramento Kings to Cover the Spread (-1.5)

Golden State’s experience may very well win the series, but it feels like Sacramento’s best hope is to come out strong in front of the home crowd in Game 1. The Kings are 45-36-1 ATS this year, the eighth-best record in the NBA. But this should be a fascinating series for homecourt advantage. The Warriors are 11-29 ATS on the road, the worst record in the NBA. Meanwhile, Sacramento has the best road spread record at 27-14 (65.9%). The Warriors are 2-17 SU as a road underdog, which they are Saturday night. Let’s back the Kings.

Prediction 2: Kevin Huerter Over 2.5 Made Threes

A big flaw for Golden State on the road is the sharp decline of the defense. Kevin Huerter has had an impressive season for Sacramento, and he has made 7 threes over his last two games against the Warriors. He has gone over 2.5 made threes in 38-of-75 games this season, so it is about a coin flip proposition. But he also shoots 44.8% from three at home compared to 35% on the road, a significant difference.

Kings vs Warriors Preview – All About Homecourt?

It is going to be crucial for the Kings to uphold homecourt in this series if they are going to knock out the champions. To this day, the Warriors have never lost a playoff series when the Big Three of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green started every game.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings will try to win shootouts against the Warriors as they finished the regular season No. 1 in Offensive Rating and No. 25 in Defensive Rating. Point guard De’Aaron Fox had his finest season yet, making his first All-Star team with a career-high .512 FG%. Domantas Sabonis leads the NBA in rebounding at 12.3 boards per game. Kevin Huerter came over from Atlanta and shot 40% from three for the first time in his career. Harrison Barnes provides a fourth King that averages over 15 points per game. They have scoring, but will the defense get stops?

Golden State Warriors

This is statistically the weakest team the Warriors have sent to the playoffs in the Steph Curry era, but you can never count out Steve Kerr’s group when they are healthy. Curry is still a fantastic shooter, Klay Thompson made the sixth-most threes in a season in NBA history this year, and Andrew Wiggins is returning just in time for his first action in two months. But we will see if the Warriors can shake their brutal road record (11-30) and become only the second team not seeded in the top four to win an NBA championship.

Kings vs Warriors Head to Head Record In 2023

The Kings are just 1-3 against the Warriors this season, but to be fair, three of those games were in the first weeks of the season when few expected much from Sacramento. These teams last met on April 7 in a 119-97 win by the Warriors, but the Warriors played their studs while the Kings sat Fox, Sabonis, and Huerter.