Kings vs Pelicans NBA Play-In Prediction & Best Bets: Will the Pelicans Prevail Without Zion?

Tuesday night, the New Orleans Pelicans lost their NBA Play-In Tournament matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, and they also lost Zion Williamson just as the former #1 pick was at his best. Tonight, they must find a way to win without him as they host the Sacramento Kings with the #8 seed in the Western Conference at stake.

Williamson put up 40 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists in Tuesday's matchup with the Lakers, but he exited in the fourth quarter with a left hamstring strain. As a result, he will miss tonight's game against Sacramento.

That Zion's season may end early—he is set to miss multiple weeks even if the Pelicans advance to the first round—due to injury after he played a career-high 70 games in the regular season is tough to see, but the show must go on.

Will New Orleans move on to a matchup with #1 seed Oklahoma City? Or will the Kings, who defeated the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, advance to face the Thunder?

Sacramento Kings vs New Orleans Pelicans Odds

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Spread

• Sacramento Kings +1 (-107)
• New Orleans Pelicans -1 (-113)

Over/Under

• Over 210.5 (-110)
• Under 210.5 (-110)

Moneyline

• Sacramento Kings -105
• New Orleans Pelicans -115

Get free and reliable moneyline, spread, and over/under consensus picks for every NBA matchup, including this one, from our NBA picks page.

Sacramento Kings vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction and Best Bets

At this point, playing without Zion is not unfamiliar for many of his teammates. After all, since he entered the NBA in 2019, he has played in only 184 out of a possible 390 regular season games.

Still, to have to do so in the biggest game of the season is far from ideal. That is even though the Pelicans are 7-5 without him this season (42-28 with him), which is somewhat respectable relative to what many teams do without one of their stars.

The Kings will still feel good about their chances to eliminate the Pelicans, who also saw their season end in the play-in tournament last year.

This season, Sacramento is 10-13 SU as a road underdog, but they are 14-9 ATS (60.9%) in that spot. Only the Pelicans (14-5-1 ATS, 73.7%) and Miami Heat (17-9, 65.4%) have been better at covering as a road underdog than the Kings.

Overall, Sacramento is 18-11 ATS (62.1%) as an underdog, which is second to New Orleans (20-11-1, 64.5%).

However, the Kings are noted haters of prosperity. In fact, only six teams are worse than Sacramento (19-26-1 ATS) in covering the spread in games following a win. Their 24-22 SU (52.2%) record in those games puts them in a tie for 17^th with the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat.

Sacramento's win over the Warriors on Tuesday was an impressive performance, even if the Dubs are a shell of their former selves. That said, I still like the Pelicans to take care of business at home.

If playing without Zion was foreign to them, I'd feel less inclined to back New Orleans, even at home. But they have played and won without him before and can do so in this spot as well.

Kings vs Pelicans Prediction: Pelicans to win and cover

Kings vs Pelicans Best Bets: Pelicans ML & Kings/Pelicans -1

Other NBA Betting Information

Where to Bet on the NBA

Many of the top online sportsbooks offer a wide variety of NBA betting odds throughout the season.

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Also, you can bet on the All-Star Game, NBA Draft odds, and the major awards like NBA MVP, NBA Rookie of the Year, and more at most reputable sports betting sites.

There are plenty of sports betting sites you can choose from that are good for NBA betting. In addition to BetOnline, here are several books that we have reviewed and highly recommend:

• BetDSI (review)
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If you don't have an account at a book on this list, check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds.

Bovada is one of the best sports betting sites for NBA player props, as they offer a plethora of prop markets for every game on the schedule. They also have a hefty welcome bonus for cryptocurrency users (75% up to $750).

Interested in Learning More About NBA Betting?

Looking to learn more about the ins and outs of betting on the NBA? Check out our NBA betting guide. Also, if you'd like to learn more about NBA player prop bets, check out our NBA player props guide.

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