The NBA Western Conference First Round gets underway Saturday night, and it will be an electric atmosphere when the Golden State Warriors (44-38, 11-30 away) visit the Sacramento Kings (48-34, 23-18 home). Golden State, the defending NBA champions, will find it tough against a Kings team that is making their first playoff appearance since the 2005-2006 season. Below is my NBA pick for the Warriors vs Kings.

Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings Betting Pick

The Pick: Sacramento Kings -1.0

This game will be played at Golden 1 Center at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, 2023.

Why Bet the Sacramento Kings:

✅ Sacramento has been good against the spread vs Golden State as they have covered 13 of their 18 meetings.

✅ Golden State is one of the worst road teams in the NBA and they have covered the spread in just three of their last 16 road games.

✅ Sacramento is going to be pumped up for this game and the crowd should drag this team to a game one win.

Golden State Warriors are Ready to Defend their Crown

Golden State enters the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, but they may be one of the most dangerous teams in the West. The Warriors have dealt with missing key players all season long, but they are fully healthy heading into this series and will be looking to defend their crown.

The Warriors were flirting with the play-in tournament, but they won three straight games, including a blowout win over these Kings, to end the regular season.

Golden State has been balanced this season with Klay Thompson leading the team in points, Kevon Looney grabbing the most boards, and Draymond Green dishing out the most assists. Of course, if Steph Curry played enough games to qualify, he would be the team’s leader in points per game at 29.4.

The Sacramento Kings Have Been Waiting for This

Sacramento was the most surprising team in the NBA this season and they finally ended their long postseason drought. The Kings will enter the playoffs as the third seed, but drew the short end of the straw as they get to play the defending champs. Golden State won the regular season series 3-1, but they have played just once since early November.

Domantas Sabonis has been key to the Kings turnaround, and he leads the team with 12.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. De’Aaron Fox has shown great fight this year and leads Sacramento with 25.0 points per game.