The Phoenix Suns have quickly jumped to the favorites in the Western Conference after trading for Kevin Durant, but they won’t have him in action for their final two games before the All-Star break.
Still, Phoenix finds itself favored against the No. 3 seed Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
The Kings are down guard Malik Monk in this game due to injury. They come into this game with a two-game lead on the Suns, who are now the No. 4 seed in the West. Phoenix has been playing well as of late, bolstered by the return of Devin Booker, going 7-3 in its last 10 games.
Even with KD sitting, can the Suns cover this number?
Here are the odds and my favorite bet for this matchup:
Kings vs. Suns odds, spread and total
Kings vs. Suns prediction and pick
I love the Suns to cover in this game, as they’ve played very well at home, especially when DBook is able to play.
The Suns are 13-9 against the spread as home favorites, winning those games by an average margin of 6.8 points per game. Meanwhile, the Kings are 8-6 against the spread as road dogs.
The Suns are 20-11 with Booker in the lineup this season and 11-16 without him, so I think they’re a little undervalued as just 2.5-point favorites in this game.
Sacramento has quietly taken a step back as of late, ranking 22nd in the NBA in net rating over its last 10 games.
The Kings did beat the Dallas Mavericks in their last game, but they’ve played a few close games with bad teams (Houston, Indiana) and lost badly to the New Orleans Pelicans this month.
Trust the Suns on Tuesday night.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.