Sacramento Kings vs. Boston Celtics – 12/3/15 NBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Smart received a second opinion on the knee this week.

Playing with Cousins should be a point in the Kings’ favor, but if Rondo gets other offers, I think he’ll at least look around. However, the Mavericks will certainly have to work together to contain Rondo, who is averaging an NBA-best 11.0 assists an outing this season for the Kings and has already recorded a league-high four triple-doubles.

An Eastern Conference team general manager agreed and said that Rondo will eventually get a lucrative deal in the offseason – either a max deal or within that range – if he continues to play well without sustaining another major injury this season. But Rondo has revived his career in Sacramento, and multiple league executives told the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney that the mercurial point guard could get a max contract in 2016. Bradley, who’s usually stoic on the court is clearly playing with higher confidence than he ever has before. Things got weird enough CSNNE announcer Brian Scalabrine whipped out a joke he might have been holding in his back pocket all season long: “They don’t call him D-Lee for nothing”. He has thrived in Sacramento’s offense, averaging 12.9 points, 10.7 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game. Once again, they’ve been solid, and they’ve proven again that they’ll be in the playoff hunt.

“I expected him to bounce back and have a monster year, and he is”.

What was the rationale for such an optimistic outlook?

The Celtics starting backcourt of Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley lit the Kings up for a combined 41 points on 15-for-29 shooting.

The basic idea is pretty simple. You know, they played Golden State twice, they played the Clippers twice, and they’ve played a couple of other good teams.

The Kings have had quite a bumpy road with DeMarcus Cousins sitting out in eight games so far this season, and the team only winning one of those games.

“There is going to be a lot of money on the market and only a handful of players who you would really say are max guys”, the GM said. Every player in these systems projects as either a plus or a minus to their team’s success. I’m a 10-year vet. I learned from [former Boston Celtics coach] Doc [Rivers] and the past guys that it has to start with the vets who have the most leeway on the team or the most responsibility. Now that the two players seem to be on the same page with George Karl after their lengthy meeting, the end might finally be in sight for one of the NBA’s most dysfunctional franchises. Not being negative being just as important as being a plus too. Both teams play at an extraordinarily fast pace, pushing the over/under to a huge 215 points.

Without a superstar, the Celtics are built on small and incremental “pluses”.

“I think it’s beginning in a good way rather than a beginning of confrontation and antagonistic commentary”, Karl said.

They fly to San Antonio today, play the Spurs tomorrow, and finish the trip in New Orleans on Monday. Sacramento is ranked second in the National Basketball Association in possessions per game (102.2), while Boston is fourth (101.1).