NBA Sports Betting Clippers @ Kings

BetOnline NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: SACRAMENTO -3, Total 192.5

Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* LA has lost four of its last five games SU

* LA has covered one of its last five games

* LA has won and covered four of its last six road games

* LA has lost 19 of its last 25 road games SU

* LA has played four of its last five road games OVER the total

* SAC has covered two of its last six games

* SAC has lost its last six games SU

* SAC has played five of its last six games UNDER the total

* SAC has covered two of its last 11 home games

* SAC has lost 11 of its last 13 home games SU

Also…

* SAC has won 17 of the last 22 meetings SU

* Seven of the last ten meetings have gone UNDER the total

* SAC has covered four of the last six meetings as the home team

* SAC has won 18 of the last 20 meetings SU as the home team

* SAC has had the shooting edge in four of the last six meetings

* LA has had the rebounding edge in nine of the last ten meetings

The Clippers have lost three straight games, scoring just 236 points in those games. Los Angeles has shot a combined 35% in those last three, being out-rebounded by a minus-41 margin as well. Meanwhile, Sacramento hit just 28% from the field in a shameful 108-63 defeat suffered at the hands of the Boston Celtics on Sunday, which was the worst home loss in the history of the franchise and their worst overall in seventeen years.

The Kings have already made a coaching change, promoting Kenny Natt, who was an assistant, and who promised to get more effort out of this club. He’s been tossing out fines to players for being late for practice and I wonder if he fined everyone on the roster for missing a game on Sunday, as his guys played like they never showed up at all. Much of the talk has shifted to which players can be unloaded by the trade deadline. One of the players who isn’t going anywhere is the star player and leading scorer, who is likely to be back in action tonight.

Kevin Martin is one of the legitimate scorers in this league. The smooth 6’7" guard has been bothered with an ankle injury, and says, "It’s been getting better every day and that’s all I can ask for. I feel ready to go." Martin has appeared in only nine games. That’s been a big blow to Sacramento, since management’s plan was to focus the whole offense around him. Spencer Hawes, the center with the feathery touch from the outside, may not be able to go, pending the results of an MRI that was taken on his abdomen, but the Clippers will be suffering personnel losses, as Ricky Davis was handed a five-game suspension on Monday for a violation of the league’s drug policy, and even worse, Zach Randolph, who has provided an offensive boost (23.1 ppg) for this club since his acquisition from the Knicks,

Sacramento is going to at least get an emotional boost from Martin, who has averaged 20.8 points a game. After such a horrible outing against Boston, it is quite possible that Natt will whip a much better effort out of his troops. Otherwise, they might get booed out of the ARCO Arena forever. We will go with the favorite here, laying three points with the Kings in the BetOnline NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: SACRAMENTO -3 **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay makes his share of shots from the top of the key as a contributor to the BetOnline Locker Room)