Kings vs Pelicans: Best Bets and Player Props for Friday Play-In Game

The Sacramento Kings will travel to New Orleans on Friday with the final Western Conference Playoff spot up for grabs. The Kings open as a 1-point road favorite, with the total set at 212.5 points.

Clearly, the headline here is that Zion will miss the game after suffering a hamstring injury in the Pelicans play-in game with the Lakers. Let's start by looking at the Pelicans record without Zion this season.

New Orleans is 7-5 in games played without Zion, including a 133-100 win over the Kings. In that matchup, CJ McCollum had 30 points, while New Orleans held De'Aaron Fox to just 3 points on 1-10 shooting.

Best Bet: New Orelans Moneyline (+105)

The Pelicans have dominated the Kings over the past few seasons, winning 8-of-10 matchups and each of the last 3. With Zion out and Ingram still not healthy, New Orleans will need to rely on it's depth and a boundback game from CJ McCollum to advance on Friday.

We think the Pelicans step up defensively, and get enough scoring from McCollum, Ingram, and Trey Murphy to win at home and advance as a live dog against the Thunder in round 1.

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F Trey Murphy (NOP): Over 16.5 PTS

With Zion out of this matchup and Brandon Ingram banged up, look for Trey Murphy to become the offensive X-factor for the Pels in this game. Murphy has been on a tear over his last five games, averaging 21 PPG on an absurd 76% TS rate.

In three games against the Kings, he’s averaged 18 PPG on 46% shooting from beyond the arc, not a bad look for the impact wing. He averaged 17.9 PPG when Zion did not suit up this season.

F Jonas Valanciunas (NOP): Over 23.5 PRA

Jonas has hit this over in each of his five matchups against Sabonis and the Kings this season. While he’s averaged less than 20 MPG in the months of March and April, Coach Green and company like Jonas against Sacramento, a team he’s played 26.7 MPG against this campaign.

While JV struggles against more defensive minded teams such as Boston, New York, Cleveland, and Orlando, he produces his most PRA against teams that can score the ball at a high rate but sometimes struggle to defend multiple positions on the floor at once, similar to Sacramento.

G De’Aaron Fox (SAC): Over 0.5 DD (+425)

Last postseason, Fox had one double-double in his first round matchup with the Warriors including four more games where he was either a rebound or assist shy of hitting this mark.

As the Kings look to steal the final playoff spot out West and battle the Thunder, expect Fox to make a massive impact in every aspect of this game as he earns his superstar status by defeating Curry and the tough Pelicans team in the same postseason as the underdog.

De’Aaron averages his most dimes per contest after two nights of rest (7.0). We expect him to put up a double-double and cash this +425 prop.

F Brandon Ingram (NOP): Over 5.5 AST

With no Zion tomorrow night, let’s look for Brandon Ingram to become a primary facilitator for the Pelicans. In 9 games without his frontcourt partner, he’s averaged 6.3 APG while securing 6 dimes in six of the nine contests.