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The Sacramento Kings will take on the New Orleans Pelicans at 1:30 p.m. ET at HP Field House in the first game on the Thursday NBA schedule. The Pelicans are two games behind the final playoff berth in the NBA Western Conference standings. The Kings are three games behind the final playoff spot. The teams are a combined 1-5 since the NBA restart. 

The Pelicans are 4-1 against the spread in their last five matchups with the Kings. The Kings are 6-1-1 against the spread in their last eight games as underdogs. New Orleans is favored by 4.5 points in the latest Kings vs. Pelicans odds from William Hill, and the over-under is set at 233.5. Before entering any Pelicans vs. Kings picks, you'll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, and it's already returned well over $4,200 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks this season. It entered the week on a blistering 54-32 run on top-rated NBA spread picks, returning almost $1,900 on those picks alone. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Kings vs. Pelicans. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Pelicans vs. Kings:

  • Kings vs. Pelicans spread: Kings +4.5
  • Kings vs. Pelicans over-under: 233.5 points
  • Kings vs. Pelicans money line: Sacramento 175, New Orleans -200

Why the Kings can cover

Sacramento fought hard in its overtime contest against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday but still lost, 114-110. A silver lining for Sacramento was the play of point guard De'Aaron Fox, who had 28 points and nine assists. The Kings have lost all three games in the NBA bubble. 

The Mavericks had 50 free-throw attempts and made 39. The Kings only went to the free throw line 12 times and converted eight of them. The Kings lost the only meeting with the Pelicans in early January, 117-115. 

Why the Pelicans can cover

New Orleans downed the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, 109-99. New Orleans' small forward Brandon Ingram filled up the stat sheet, picking up 24 points and five assists in addition to seven rebounds. It was the first win for the Pelicans since play resumed. 

After logging a total of 29 minutes in the first two games in the NBA bubble, Zion Williamson played 25 minutes and scored 23 points against the Mavericks. He is expected to play significant minutes on Thursday because of the playoff implications in the matchup.   

How to make Pelicans vs. Kings picks

The model has simulated Kings vs. Pelicans 10,000 times and the results are in. It is leaning under on the total, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in almost 60 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Pelicans vs. Kings? And which side of the spread hits in almost 60 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Pelicans vs. Kings spread you need to jump on Thursday, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.