Charlie Cummings gives his prediction and pick for tonight’s NBA matchup between the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz.
We’ve got one heck of a matchup tonight if you like lottery balls. It’s the tank bowl, folks; the 12-43 Sacramento Kings are traveling to face the 17-37 Utah Jazz. Someone has to win this game. But is the winner of tonight’s matchup truly the winner?
Utah is a -5.5 favorite and Sacramento is a +164 ML underdog with the total set at 229.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook. Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Kings-Jazz game.
Kings vs. Jazz prediction, preview
There’s been much ado about the Jazz in the last week. They made waves by making a surprise trade for Jaren Jackson Jr., giving the worst defense in the league a true anchor. But it doesn’t match up with their current plan to tank for this elite 2026 draft class. Talent is talent, but making a win-now move when you’re in the race for franchise-altering talents like Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer? Interesting, to say the least.
They have come up with a new solution: punt the entire fourth quarter.
One of the worst cases of tanking I’ve ever seen: last night, the Jazz were up by 17 towards the end of the third quarter— Lauri Markkanen had 27, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 22, and Jusuf Nurkic had 14 rebounds.
Out of nowhere, they were all benched for the entire fourth quarter, and… pic.twitter.com/Ye61piWy19
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 8, 2026
It’s not exactly a novel concept for the Jazz. But it’s having some mixed results — they accidentally won on February 3 against the Pacers (a team ahead of them in the tank race) despite half of their team being out, then pulled off another win against the Heat in their last outing despite benching their best players for the entire fourth. It’s possible that a team with Keyonte George, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Lauri Markkanen is just too good to tank.
If the Jazz are unethical for planning on being this bad, the Kings are simply plain awful. Over the last couple seasons, they’ve brought in several veteran pieces like DeMar DeRozan, Dennis Schroder, Russell Westbrook, and Zach LaVine to supplement a team built around Domantas Sabonis. Injuries and ineffectiveness have made them the worst team in the league, and they traded Schroder away to boot.
Sacramento is bottom three in both offensive and defensive rating, an incredible feat for a team that was attempting to compete for a playoff spot. The Kings’ hope is that this draft can bail them out of their woes.
So, who takes this one home? The team that is trying to be bad, or the truly helpless one?
Kings vs. Jazz pick, best bet
The Kings haven’t lost 13 games in a row by accident. They have no defensive infrastructure, nonexistent passing, and a bunch of players who see the writing on the wall. It feels strange to say that the Jazz are miles ahead, but they are.
Utah also has a very bad defense. But they’ve added JJJ, a legitimate difference maker on that end. Head coach Will Hardy has found ways to muster up offense time and again, which has been great for Isaiah Collier. Even if they punt the entire fourth quarter, there’s a level of baseline competence here now that the Kings do not have.
On top of that, the injury report is not being kind to Sacramento. The Kings will be without DeRozan, LaVine, Sabonis, Malik Monk, Russell Westbrook, and De’Andre Hunter. Whatever damage Utah does in the first three quarters before Jackson Jr. and Markkanen sit will be enough.
Best Bet: Utah Jazz -5.5 (-112)