Charles Barkley already believes the Sacramento Kings will win the first-round NBA playoff series against the Warriors, and the TNT analyst is sticking by Sacramento ahead of Game 5 on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.
During TNT's pregame show before Game 5 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies, Barkley made an emphatic declaration about Game 5 between the Kings and Warriors.
"The secret sauce is that the Kings are going to whoop their ass tonight," Barkley said to co-hosts Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal. "Guarantee it. Guarantee it. And it ain't going to be close. Not going to be close."
As strong as that was, Shaq urged Barkley to be even more forceful.
"The Kings are going to blow the Warriors out tonight," Barkley said. "Guarantee."
The home teams have held serve in the first four games of the first-round series, with the Kings winning Games 1 and 2, while the Warriors evened the series at two games apiece by winning Games 3 and 4.
Three of the four games were decided by eight points or less. The Warriors' 17-point Game 3 win is the only contest that hasn't been close.
Golden State Warriors
Based on the Warriors' struggles on the road this season and the raucous G1C crowd, the Kings should have the edge in Game 5. But All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox is going to play through a fractured left index finger, so that could level the playing field.
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The winner of Wednesday's game will have a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on Friday night at Chase Center.
If the Kings make good on Barkley's second prediction, they'll have a chance to seal his first prediction in two nights.