The Detroit Pistons take on the Brooklyn Nets for the second time this season this Saturday night, so here’s the best betting pick for their Eastern Conference showdown at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Back in February, the Pistons upset the Kevin Durant-less Nets as 5.5-point home underdogs, 122-111, dominating their rivals for all 48 minutes. The Nets will miss KD once more and search for revenge as 11.5-point home favorites on BetMGM Sportsbook.
Detroit opened the second half of the season with a narrow loss at Charlotte
The Detroit Pistons (10-27; 18-16-3 ATS) are coming off a 105-102 defeat at the Charlotte Hornets this past Thursday, tallying their fifth loss in the last six outings. The Pistons rallied from a 16-point deficit to get a three-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t get the job done.
Jerami Grant had another good game, racking up 32 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while rookie Saddiq Bey added 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting from deep. Grant is having a breakthrough season, averaging 23.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, but he’s not getting enough help from his teammates.
The Pistons are scoring 108.7 points per 100 possessions, enough for the seventh-fewest in the NBA. They are making only 44.2% of their field goals (27th in the NBA) and 35.1% of their 3-pointers (25th) while surrendering 112.6 points per 100 possessions (17th) on 47.8% shooting from the field (28th) and 37.3% from beyond the arc (18th).
Brooklyn outlasted Boston on the back of Kyrie’s 40-point performance
The Brooklyn Nets (25-13; 21-17 ATS) extended their winning streak to three games last Thursday, defeating the Boston Celtics 121-109 as 2.5-point home favorites. Kyrie Irving dropped 40 points on his former teammates; James Harden added 22 points, ten boards, and eight assists, while the Nets shot 45.2% from beyond the 3-point line.
Brooklyn is now 11-1 straight up and ATS over its last 12 outings at any location. Kevin Durant is still recovering from a hamstring injury, and Blake Griffin could get his first minutes in the Nets’ uniform Saturday night. Anyway, Kyrie and Harden will continue to lead the way for the Nets who hold the second seed in the East and trail just half a game behind the 76ers.
The Nets are tallying 119.2 points per 100 possessions, the most by any NBA team this season. They lead the league in field goal percentage as well (50.0%) and are second in 3-point percentage (40.8%). Brooklyn is allowing a whopping 114.1 points per 100 possessions (26th in the NBA) on 46.7% shooting from the field (14th) and 36.6% from downtown (12th).
Trends:
Detroit:
- 7-13 ATS in the last 20 games against Brooklyn
Brooklyn:
- 11-1 ATS in the last 12 games overall
- 6-2 ATS in the last eight home contests
The Nets have been outstanding over the last few weeks. Three of their last four wins came by 12 or more points, and I’ve already mentioned that Brooklyn has covered in 11 of its last 12 showings.
The Pistons are pretty much hit-or-miss, going 4-5-1 ATS in their previous ten games overall. Detroit will keep it close here only if Brooklyn puts on a poor offensive performance. The Nets have to improve defensively, and the clash against the Pistons seems like a great opportunity to make some stops and get easy baskets in transition.
Pick: Take Brooklyn Nets -11.5 at -110
The Total:
The Pistons shouldn’t have too many problems scoring baskets against the Nets’ leaky D, but they will have a mountain to climb on the other side of the ball. Therefore, I’m backing the over, expecting to see a proper high-scoring contest.
Detroit will try to slow down things, as the Pistons average just 97.5 possessions per 48 minutes (27th in the NBA). However, the Nets will push the ball in transition whenever they can, and I think they will control this game for most of the time.
Pick: Go over 228.0 points at -110