The late NBA on TNT game tonight will see Kristaps Porzingis' New York Knicks take on DeMarcus Cousins' Sacramento Kings. What didn't look like too exciting of a matchup heading into the season now has a lot of promise. All of the info you need for the game such as the live stream, TV info, betting line, a preview and prediction is below.
TV Schedule: 10:30 p.m. ET
Live Stream: Watch NBA on TNT
Line: -6 SAC; 209 O/U
While both teams have losing records, there are plenty of positives to point to.
The obvious one is Porzingis for the Knicks. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft has surprised with how quickly he's turned into an effective two-way player as a rookie. His all-around abilities have led the Knicks to a much more competitive start than anticipated, and he looks llke he'll be a bona fide susperstar in the near future.
In fact, his go-to NBA comparison, future Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki, gave high praise to the rookie.
"He's probably way ahead of the curve compared to when I was 20," Nowitzki said via SportsOnEarth.com. "I was scared to death out there competing against some of my heroes that first year. He's way better than I was at 20. The comparison is probably unfair to him."
That quote came from right before the two Europeans were set to battle each other for the first time. Porzingis dropped 28 that night in a loss, but is coming off of a poor four-point, three-rebound performance in a drubbing courtesy of the on-the-rise Utah Jazz.
Meanwhile, the Kings have had a bit of a rougher start you could say. However, Rajon Rondo has come back to life this season, averaging a double-double with 12.5 points and 11 assists per game.
Cousins is also averaging a career high 25.1 points per, but his effectiveness has been deceptive.
The five-year vet is shooting a career-low percentage from the field, connecting on only 41.6 percent of his shots. That's a far cry from his 46-percent career mark, or his career high of 49.6 two years ago. Odds are, this is due to his increase of outside shooting. He's taking an outrageous 4.3 three-point shots per game this year and only connecting on 1.3. He's been taking too many jumpshots, and it's had a negative impact on the performance of the team this year.
Ultimately, what this game may come down to is how much he can score in the paint and be efficient. Expect the rookie Porzingis to be ready to rebound from a poor game last time out and put up a solid defensive performance, limiting Cousins.
Prediction: Knicks 102, Kings 97
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