Kings vs Lakers Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: Los Angeles Slow Starts Continue

Two teams fighting for early position in the crowded middle glut of the Western Conference face off Wednesday as the Sacramento Kings clash with the Los Angeles Lakers.

NBA odds are tabbing the Lakers as slim -1.5 favorites, coming off a drubbing of the hibernating Memphis Grizzlies last night. Can the Kings start to regain some of last season's momentum and pull off the quasi-upset?

We've got your best betting angles for this West Coast showdown with our Kings vs. Lakers free NBA picks for Wednesday, November 15.  

Kings vs Lakers odds

Kings vs Lakers predictions

The Los Angeles Lakers haven't looked particularly great to start this season. While Anthony Davis is picking up where he left off last spring (when healthy, of course), the rest of the team is gelling quite poorly, forcing Darvin Ham to abandon his 30-minute cap on LeBron James' minutes almost immediately.

One area the Lakers have been particularly deficient is their slow starts, but hold your horses — we'll get back to that in a moment. 

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings are still one-upping the Lakers in the standings despite franchise guy De'Aaron Fox playing only four of nine games thus far, and they hung 132 points on the defensively-sound Cavs (No. 1 in D-rating last year) in Fox's return Monday night. 

That included 68 first-half points — a market in which Sacramento led the entire NBA last year, and maintained a Top 10 rating so far this season with its best scorer largely sidelined.

Now, back to the Lakers, whose first halves have gone about as well as the first few seasons of 'Game of Thrones' did for Theon Greyjoy. The Lake Show has had a delayed air time this season, going a comically terrible 1-10 against first-half spreads, good for a -83.06% ROI. Inspiring stuff. 

L.A.'s lone cover came last night as it blew the Grizzlies out in the first 18 minutes, effectively ending the game by halftime — take it with a grain of salt, because Memphis has been every sort of injured and incompetent to start this season. That performance also helped pad the Lakers' atrocious -6.1 1H net rating, ranking 29th, ahead of only — you guessed it — Memphis. 

I'm not going to factor much of the back-to-back into this handicap for L.A., since both games are at home and none of its legs took a serious run in a blowout (LeBron played all of 23 minutes).

But I do think the Lakers have been brutal enough in first halves this season to fade them against a better team that scores a bunch early and just re-installed its engine's turbocharger.

My best bet: Kings first half alt-spread -1.5 (+126 at FanDuel)

Kings vs Lakers same-game parlay

Kings first half moneyline

De'Aaron Fox Over 26.5 points

Domantas Sabonis Over 11.5 rebounds

30% boost available

+502 +653 at FanDuel

I'm building on the above narrative that the Kings are going to pile up the points on the Lakers early. The man most liable to carry that burden is Fox, who's averaging over 30 on the season and will likely see an increased scoring onus against a suspect Lakers perimeter, while Domantas Sabonis has NBA DPOY odds candidate Davis draped all over him. 

But, while Sabonis is sure to be in a battle with Davis, he'll also be seeing more minutes, with both backups Trey Lyles and Alex Len shelved for tonight's matchup. Mike Brown will have to dust off fourth-string Javale McGee's skeleton to spell Domas, but against a dominant big like Davis and capable backup Christian Wood, don't count on those stretches being any more than the bare minimum. Sabonis averages 12.4 boards on the season, and this profiles as a spot for him to go above par. 

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Kings vs Lakers spread and Over/Under analysis

As of Wednesday morning, the Lakers sit as 1.5-point favorites in this effective pick 'em, buoyed by their home-court edge at Crypto.com Arena. Public money has trended away from L.A. at some smaller books that opened at -2.5, although industry giants DraftKings and FanDuel opened the Kings as 1-point favorites before jumping the fence to settle consensus.

The Kings could see some buyback before tipoff, and they could be undervalued in this spot as the bulk of their season has been played without Fox so far. His numbers are baked in, but the freedom for other players and sense of continuity he restores to the lineup is tough to quantify. 

The total sits at 235 at most shops, with BetMGM and a couple of others dangling 234.5 after noticeable upward movement from an opening of 232.5. It's understandable, given Sacramento's reputation as a high-scoring team that plays zero defense. Fox's return begets that mentality, and while true value in the total may have expired, the sharp money seems to be on to something here.

Kings vs Lakers betting trend to know

Lakers are 1-10 against first-half spreads this season. Find more NBA betting trends for Kings vs. Lakers.

Kings vs Lakers game info

Kings vs Lakers latest injuries

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