NBA: Los Angeles Lakers VS Detroit Pistons Pick and Predictions 12/11/2022

Game: 6:10 PM ET,  Sunday, December 11th, 2022

Venue: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan

TV:  NBA League Pass

Lakers: 10-15, 13th place Western Conference

Pistons: 7-21, 15th place Eastern Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Lakers -5.5, O/U 233.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Lakers -5.5, O/U 234

Fanduel: Point Spread: Lakers -5.5, O/U 233.5

Lakers: SF Lonnie Walker IV, PF LeBron James, C Anthony Davis, PG Dennis Schroder, SG Patrick Beverley

Pistons: SF Isaiah Stewart, PF Bojan Bogdanovic, C Jalen Duren, PG Killian hayes, SG Jaden Ivey

An Inter-conference matchup between old foes that have both seen much better days.  The Los Angeles Lakers were mired in 14th place just 2 weeks ago… then something magical happened.  Upon the return of the oft-injured C Anthony Davis the Lakers started winning and winning and winning.  The fans caught the excitement!  Sportscenter reported on Anthony Davis’s gaudy, exceptional numbers… and all of a sudden the Lakers had risen all the way to…. 13th place! That’s right… a bad team with 3 future Hall of Famers actually jumped a bad San Antonio Spurs team with no future Hall of Famers that are clearly deliberately losing to try and win the NBA draft lottery.  Whoa!  Big accomplishment!  Then Anthony Davis caught the flu?.. Or a stomach bug?... Or just didn’t feel well and the Lakers immediately went on a 3-game losing streak. Fortunately for Los Angeles the Spurs didn’t try to win much during the same stretch.  The Detroit Pistons are worse than the Spurs.  The Pistons are a very young team mired in last place in the Eastern Conference… and they are missing their star PG Cade Cunningham to the injury list.  Everything left on the roster is either a teenager looking for development or a draft bust from some other team that came over in a trade.. A trade that was designed to lose in the short term so the Pistons could ultimately win the NBA Draft Lottery.. Which ultimately is about getting lucky anyway.  The Pistons are clearly sacrificing the now for tomorrow.  The Lakers get to play a team like that.

The Los Angeles Lakers are on a 3-game losing streak that is also a 3-game losing streak ATS.  They got beat by the Cavs, the Raptors, and the 76ers… essentially worked over by the Eastern Conference.  In the last loss against the 76ers the Lakers actually finished regulation with one of the best last 2 minutes in a game I have seen in a long time.  The Lakers were down all throughout the 4th quarter and entered the final 2 minutes down by 10 points… then they buckled in and started pressing the Sixers hard… they started playing together as a team, they started relying on SG/SF Austin Reeves to hit big shots… and they ended up TYING the game… They could have won the game if not for a missed free throw with just 1 second left on the clock.  Cest La Vie… In overtime the Sixers overcame the temporary insanity that had prevented them from sealing the easy win in the 4th quarter… and outscored the Laker the rest of the way with a 133-122 finish.  It was also a loss ATS which is a rarity for teams that are underdogs by 5 points yet force an overtime period. 

The Detroit Pistons are on a 2-game losing streak, but have gone 2-1-1 ATS over their last 4 games. In fact they are 6-2-2 ATS over their last 10 games.  This is why Bettors always have to be reminded that the Points spread isn’t random.  The point spread will be giving winning chances to the Pistons, Magic, Spurs, Thunder, and Rockets all season long.  These teams will have terrible records all season long, yet it’s not enough to know they will lose… but to make the determination that they will lose by 6, 7, 8… heck even double digits sometimes.  Remember, they may be terrible teams but they still will be putting 5 very capable basketball players on the court every game… they will lose.. But have a great shot at making you money.

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LAL: 10-15, 10-15 ATS, 14-11 O/U, 4-9 on the road.

DET: 7-12, 14-11-3 ATS, 15-12-1 O/U, 4-8 in home games.

The Lakers are 12th in scoring with 114.5 points per game, 5th in rebounds with 45.5 per game, 22nd in AST/TO ratio with 1.7, and 11th in blocked shots with 5.1 per game.

The Pistons are 26th in scoring with 109.6 per game, 24th in rebounds with 42.5 per game, 27th in AST/TO ratio with 1.5, and 27th in blocked shots with 3.9 per game.

Our prediction for Sunday, December 11th is…. Lakers 122 - Pistons 102

Bet on the Lakers.  After being embarrassed 3 times in a row… LeBron and AD will be healthy and playing together again… and the Pistons have no one on their roster that can stop these guys.  The only thing that can sink the Lakers in fact would be if they let Russell Westbrook play more than 6th man duties of 20 minutes a game against the subs.  That is a role he can play like a champ.

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The Pistons are 2-0 ATS versus Lakers in Detroit the last 3 seasons.

The Pistons are 16-9 ATS versus the Lakers in Detroit since 1996.

The Lakers are 1-6 ATS off a road loss by 10 points or more this season.

Lakers: C Anthony Davis… Anthony was showing his value by having 44 points against the Bucks and 55 points against the Wizards before the flu bug hit him and he was forced to leave a game and miss a game.  In his first healthy game back against the Sixers he had 31 points and 14 rebounds while missing a lot of time with foul trouble.  Anthony is due for another 50 point game especially since the Pistons will be sticking a rookie or a draft bust on him all night long!

Pistons:  C Jalen Duren.  This kid was taken by the Indiana Pacers with the #10 pick in the last draft but prognosticators say he has top 3-4 talent… he was immediately traded for by the Pistons.  Jalen has had ups and downs this season that are entirely tied to his playing time.  His numbers so far imply that he will soon be a double double threat every night if he ever gets those minutes up to 35+ instead of 20+.  His ceiling implies he will one day be a 20-10 big man playing alongside Cade Cunningham and whoever the Pistons draft this season.  He will get abused by Anthony Davis.. But look for the bright spots… Th ePistons injury situation has given him a starting role earlier than expected.

Lakers: Darvin “c’mon guys and legends lets go!” Ham

Pistons: Dwayne “gimme Toronto players please!” Casey