NBA: Detroit Pistons VS New Orleans Pelicans Pick and Predictions 12/07/2022

Game: 8:10 PM ET,  Wednesday, December 7th, 2022

Venue: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

TV:  NBA League Pass

Pistons: 7-19, 14th place Eastern Conference

Pelicans: 15-8, 2nd place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Pelicans -10.5, O/U 229.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Pelicans -10.5, O/U 229.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Pelicans -11, O/U 229

Pistons: PF Isaiah Stewart, SF Bojan Bogdanovic, C Marvin Bagley III, PG Killian Hayes, SG Jaden Ivey

Pelicans: PF Zion Williamson, PF Trey Murphy III, C Jonas Valanciuanas, SG CJ McCollum, PG Dyson Daniels.

AN NBA Inter-Conference battle between the almost worst of the East and the almost bets of the West.  To pretend this is an even matchup is to fool yourself very deeply.  It is not.  However what we know about the NBA and their 82 game season is that no spread is easy.  Losing teams can lose every game close and winning teams can win every game close… Every player in the league is better at basketball than anyone you have ever met.  That means in a good game sometimes the bad team can cover the spread… or even win?!!  What is the great betting opportunity here?  The Detroit Pistons are a very bad team that are obviously deliberately tanking.  They start all young players and have no bench of quality veterans to take their place in situations.  They have built this roster deliberately to win the NBA draft lottery in 2023 and land 7’4 C Victor Wembenyama.. That would set them up for a decade.  Add to that drama the fact that their current best player and recent #1 overall Draft Pick Cade Cunningham is out with injury and you get a near certainty of losses.  The New Orleans Pelicans sit at 2nd place in the Western Conference… but make no mistake they are real Finals contenders. The Pelicans have PF Zion Williamson putting up GREAT stat lines on wonderful efficiency.  The Pelicans have SG CJ McCollum as a sure fire shooter and #2 option on a loaded team.  The Pelicans have a 4-game winning streak going while two of their best players, SF Brandon Ingram and Swiss Army Knife Herbert Jones have missed games to injury!  The Pelicans are good and they are certainly better than the Phoenix Suns…. The Pelicans biggest problem this season is that LeBron James and Anthoony Davis are hell bent on ruining their own shot at 7’4 Center Victor Wenbenyama… since they own the Lakers first round draft pick via swap… and the Lakers are in 13th place in the West.  Nobody roots for Lakers losses harder than smart Pelicans fans.

The Detroit Pistons have won 4 of their last ten games.  Not great but not bad for the Pistons.  They won their last game against the up and down Miami Heat 116-96. It was a great big win against the spread… The Pistons are 6-3-1 ATS over the last 10 games.  The Pistons can win you money without losing games… though probably not tonight.  In the win over Miami SF Bojan Bogdanovic went off for 31 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Bojan is a shooter and he came through with 7 for 9 from beyond the 3-point arc.  Deep bench player A;ec Burk had 18 points in 21 minutes and Forward Saddiq Bey had 14 points… The Piston got the win thanks to Bojan.  The shame of the night was draft bust Marvin Bagley III who simply can not take advantage of starters minutes with one of the worst teams in the league.  Rookie Center Jalen Duran was also invisible with 4 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes… It gets long and hard for the Pistons… but a win is a win.

The New Orleans Pelicans are on a 4-game winning streak.  They are firmly in 2nd place in the West and they are getting through a terrible injury bug that has taken Zion, Ingram, Herbert Davis, Dante Graham, out of the rotation for long stretches.  Injury is a weird thing in the NBA… The Pelicans have a great point guard in former 1st round pick Kira Lewis JR who has yet to play over the last 18 months because of an ACL surgery.  He was sent down to the G-League recently to find some game shape… This team could eventually get Ingram, Davis, AND a back-up point guard, possible star… as early as next week… and they already are in 2nd place in the West.

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DET: 7-19, 13-11-2 ATS, 15-10-1 O/U, 3-11 on the road.

NOP: 15-8, 13-10 ATS, 12-11 O/U, 9-3 in home games.

The Pistons are 23rd in total points with 110.3 per game, 25th in rebounds with 42.4 per game, 27th in AST/TO ratio with 1.5, and 27th in blocked shots per game with 3.8 per game.

The Pelicans are 4th in total scoring with 117.3 per game, 7th in total rebounds with 45.1 per game, 5th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9, and 21st in blocked shots with 4.5 per game.

Our prediction for Wednesday, December 7th is…. Pelicans 127 - Pistons 100

The Pelicans will not and should not worry about the Pistons.  Bet on the Pelicans… and then bet double on it again.  This is really the type of game where the Pistons will shut down and take their beating.  They already had their big win of the week with the win over the Heat… The Pelicans will beat the Pistons at every position even though the Pelicans are missing so many guys to injury.

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Detroit is 8-1 ATS against non-conference foes.

The Pelicans are 5-1 ATS as favorites of 10 points the last 3 seasons.

Pistons: SF Saddiq Bey.  Saddoq is one of those guys in the long term plans for the Piston. He started his career as an unassuming late first round pick for the Portland Trail Blazers.  He came to the Pistons in a trade with Portland that seemingly Portland won (Jerami Grant).. But if Detroit gets the #1 pick… Saddiq will be set for life at the forward position.

Pelicans: PG Jose Alvarado.  He may come off the bench in New orleans… he may have been undrafted, but he is the best “guard” defender in the league that does not start. He can turn top flight point guards… he can swipe balls, he can stay on any man.

Pistons: Dwayne “It’s a long way from Toronto” Casey

Pelicans: Willie “ I got that swagger” Green