The Detroit Pistons will hit the road to play the New Orleans Pelicans in a battle of teams at the bottom of their respective conferences.
Both of these teams are in different stages of their rebuild even though they are two of the youngest teams in the league. The big difference is that the Pistons weren’t expected to be good this season while the Pelicans were hoping to make the leap into the playoffs behind superstar Zion Williamson.
Zion has yet to play (and may not) so that plan has been undone, but the Pelicans still have star Brandon Ingram and center Jonas Valanciunas, who have both played well this season. With news that Jerami Grant might be traded before the deadline, these two teams are also potential trade partners, as Grant is a guy the Pels could use.
But tonight will be about trying to break streaks, as the Pistons want to end their 10-game slide and the Pelicans want to get back in the win column after losing two-in-a-row.
Detroit Pistons vs. New Orleans Pelicans: Odds, spread, over/under
According to WynnBET, the Pistons are 5.5 point underdogs on the road against the Pelicans.
The money lines are set at +185 for the Pistons and -220 for the Pelicans. Without Zion, this is a team that the Pistons might be able to beat, so if you like the matchups, just take Detroit to win and get the better odds.
The over/under is set at 211.5, which is interesting, as both of these teams have struggled to score at times, and I could see this being a grind-it-out, low scoring affair.
I like the under in this one and would probably take the Pelicans to win outright if I had to bet it, as they are desperate for a win to keep their dwindling play-in hopes alive. They aren’t going to want to lose at home to the four-win Pistons.
Pistons vs. Pelicans: Best fantasy bets
The Pelicans are not a very good defensive team, so I like a couple of guys for the Detroit Pistons. The Pels have a lockdown rookie defender in Herb Jones, but he can only guard one guy, so will it be Jerami Grant or Cade Cunningham?
Jones is a very good defender, so I expect him to at least slow one of these guys down, but whichever one he doesn’t guard could go off.
I love Cade Cunningham to have a big game in this one, as he is really starting to figure it out from all three levels scoring the ball and the Pelicans have undersized guards or potentially Josh Hart to throw at him which should mean a big game for Cade.
If you are looking for a low-cost, risky play, take Hamidou Diallo, who should be able to dominate the boards against the Pels’ backups and get some easy buckets in transition.
How to watch
You can catch this game on Bally Sports Detroit or listen on 950 AM. The game will tip-off at 8:00 PM ET and should be one in which the Pistons can at least hang close.