Game Time: 10:00 PM ET, Monday, March 14th, 2022 

Venue:  Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Bulls -4.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Bulls -5

BetMGM:  Spread: Bulls -4.5

Bulls: 41-26, 4th place Eastern Conference

Kings: 24-45, 13th place Western Conference

A non-conference NBA matchup of very good in the East versus very bad in the East.  The Bulls have been pushing a boulder up a mountain since January.  The brief holder of 1st place in the Eastern Conference… the Bulls have been patiently waiting for the injury list to spit back out their team… after swallowing several of them whole.  The team just got SG Alex Caruso back after he recovered from being savagely attacked by that hot head SG Grayson Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks… you know, the guy who kept kicking people and throwing tantrums while at Duke.  As soon as Caruso returned to his spot as the backup shooting guard… starting SG Zach LaVine hit the injury list with a dinged knee.  The whole team is holding its breath that it is nothing serious.  Scheduled to return soon is SF Patrick Williams who has missed his entire 2nd season so far with a wrist injury.  The Bulls had big plans for Williams and hope those plans can kick in in time for the playoffs (though there will be rust).  PG Lonzo Ball is set to return from a knee injury in late March.  If the Bulls hit the playoffs entirely healthy they could do real damage.  They have a powerfully strong starting five and one of the deepest and most talented benches in basketball. The Sacramento Kings on the other hand are a bad Western Conference team.  They have been for 2 decades.  They screw up both draft picks and trades.  The screw up coaching hires.  They screw up GM firings.  They have a bad NBA owner.  They also don’t seem to put too much work into player development.  The Kings get a kid in the draft and hand them the ball and ask them to win games.  When that kid doesn't win games… the team is stuck with no other options… oh and also the player is irrevocably damaged unless they find a way to escape to another team.  The free agents that land in Sacramento are like SF Harrison Barnes… guys who would not get a paycheck this size anywhere else… why?... Because they are good, but not that good.  The Kings pulled off an odd trade at the trade deadline by brilliantly landing PF/C Domantas Sabonis.. It was a great move since this is a team that desperately needed someone of that caliber anywhere on the roster to pair with Haliburton, the young breakout guard…. What?... You mean the Kings put Buddy Hield AND Haliburton in the trade?... so they finally paired the good guard play with a quality big man by getting rid of the good guards?.... This is a bad team.  The Kings lost their last game to the Utah Jazz who were playing without C Rudy Gobert.  They gave up 45 points to SG Jordan Clarkson?... The sort of thing that Haliburton was built to stop. 

The Chicago Bulls have won 5 of their last ten games.  They went 4-6 during that stretch.  A very scary trend for the Bulls is that they lost to the three teams above them in the standings while going .500 over ten games.  The Miami Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Milwaukee Bucks will feel no fear against the Bulls if the Bulls can’t reverse this trend soon.  SG DeMar DeRozan is getting shout outs left and right for his near MVP play this season… he is doing it mostly from the SF spot to accommodate SG Zach LaVine at the SG spot.  If everyone were to return healthy in time for the playoffs they could go back to Zach LaVine at PG and DeMar DeRozan at SG with Ball and Caruso coming off the bench.  Rookie 2nd round pick Ayo Dosunmu has played marvelously at PG for as long stretch now… but it is growing more and more clear that he has hit a rookie wall.  It’s time for Ayo to return to the bench.  If SF Patrick Williams is effective in his debut, the Bulls will be a mile ahead of where they find themselves now. C Nikola Vucevic has consistent quality play at 18 ppg and 11.5 rpg.  It would be nice if he found another gear and could start landing 22 ppg.  The pure attention to DeRozan and Lavine and sometimes Coby White could be lifted by Vucevic playing just a bit better.

The Kings have won just 2 of their last ten games.  They went 5-4-1 ATS during that stretch.  The Kings are starting to benefit from bigger spreads.  Anyone can see that they are not likely to win many more games straight up for the rest of the season.  Domantas Sabonis is having less fun on the losing team in Sacramento than he had on the losing team in Indiana.  He has been suspended for a game for making contact with an official… he has taken a game off with a personal issue… and he is listed as Questionable for Monday’s game against the Bulls.  SG Justin Holiday, who came over from Indiana with Sabonis, is also listed as Questionable with illness as the excuse.  My sources tell me both these guys are at their wit’s end at having landed here.  Both would rather be in Portland or Orlando or Oklahoma City… and that is saying a lot.  6’3 PG De’Aaron Fox is the Kings actual star player and has been since he outperformed PG Lonzo Ball after following him in the 2017 draft.  Fox is good for 23 ppg and an anemic 5.6 apg.  Fox is not a good shooter which makes his big point and small assist numbers simply alarming. Fox will need to be coaxed into learning how to play his position… but then player development is not a Kings strength… they also don’t do it at all.

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The Bulls are 41-26 on the season, but 37-29-1 ATS.  They have logged 33 Overs, 33 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 16-16 on the road.  This is a team that is much stronger at home then they are at the road.  

The Kings are 24-45 on the season, but 32-36-1 ATS.  They have notched 35 Overs, 33 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 15-20 in home games.

The Bulls are 9th in scoring with 112.3 ppg, 28th in rebounds with 43.0 per game, and 8th in AST/To ratio with 1.9.  On defense they rank 17th while allowing 110.7 ppg from opponents.

The Kings are 15th in scoring with 110.2 ppg, 25th in rebounds with 43.3 per game, and 21st in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense they are abysmal… ranked 29th while allowing 115.5 ppg from opponents.  

Our prediction for Monday, March 14th is…. Bulls 128 - Kings 111

The Bulls will blow the doors off the Kings.  The Kings aren’t really trying anymore and Sabonis (the team’s current best play, sorry De’Aaron Fox) is having trouble fitting in to his new circumstances.  The Bulls have been waiting for a “get right” game like this.

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Chicago is 4-1 ATS versus Sacramento over the last 3 seasons.
Sacramento is 26-20 ATS versus Chicago since 1996.
Both games in this series played at Sacramento have gone OVER the last 3 seasons

Bulls: PG Zach LaVine (knee) Quest ** SF Patrick Williams (wrist) Out ** PG Lonzo Ball (knee) Out

Kings: SF Justin Holiday (ill) Quest ** PF Domantas Sabonis (?) Out ** SG Terrence Davis II (wrist) Out for season.

Bulls: SF DeMar DeRozan, PF Javonte Green, C Nikola Vucevic, SG Coby White, PG Ayo Dosunmu 

Kings: SF Harrison Barnes, PF Trey Lyles, C Damian Jones, PG De’Aaron Fox, SG Juston Holiday

Bulls

Points: DeMar DeRozan 28.1

Assists: DeMar DeRozan 5.1

Rebounds: Nikola Vucevic 11.5

Steals: Alex Caruso 2.0

Blocks: Nikola Vucevic 1.1

Kings

Points: DeAaron Fox 23

Assists: Tyrese Haliburton 7.4 (gone)

Rebounds: Domantas Sabonis 12.8

Steals: Tyrese Haliburton 1.7 (gone)

Blocks: Richaun Holmes 0.9

Bulls: Billy Donovan

Kings: Alvin Gentry