The Detroit Pistons will finish a tough west coast road trip against the Denver Nuggets tonight before returning home and playing them again.
Only four of the Detroit’s 11 wins have come away from home, so they will be facing steep odds against reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
Jokic should probably win the MVP again this season, as he has carried an injured Nuggets team all year and has them in the 6th seed despite their bad luck.
But they are just 5-5 in their last 10 games, including a recent loss to the surging Memphis Grizzlies.
The Pistons are coming off a loss to the Utah Jazz in which they came back several times behind rookie Cade Cunningham but couldn’t hold on at the end.
Cunningham managed to make Pistons’ history in the loss and will try to keep it going vs. the veteran Nuggets on the road.
Detroit Pistons vs. Denver Nuggets: Odds, spread, over/under, best bets
According to WynnBET, the Pistons are 11.5 point underdogs on the road in Denver.
Detroit has mostly been an all or nothing team in 2022, either winning the game or getting blown out.
It’s hard to recommend taking the points even when it is a double-digit spread, as we’ve seen the Pistons allow games to get out of hand, especially on the road.
But Detroit is 22-23 against the spread on the season, and after their recent performance against the Jazz, I like them to cover in this one.
The Nuggets are coming off two tough and close games (including an overtime win over the Clippers), so I like the Pistons to keep it close even though they are at the tail end of a tough stretch themselves.
The money lines are set at +500 for the Pistons and -700 for the Nuggets, so the books aren’t giving Detroit much of a chance to win this one.
The over under is 216.5, and I like the under, as there should be some tired legs in this one that will lead to a lot of bricks.
Take the points and bet the under and hope the Pistons can keep close or win an ugly game on the road.
Cade Cunningham is the obvious daily fantasy play for the Pistons and is coming off one of his best all-around games of the season.
But Detroit also has some of the sneakiest value plays going right now, as Trey Lyles has been putting up numbers consistently and veteran Rodney McGruder has been red hot over his last three games, scoring at a high clip on efficient shooting.
Those two guys might offer the best value for money in this one.
How to watch Pistons vs. Nuggets
The game vs. the Nuggets has an 8:00 PM ET tip off and you can watch it on Bally Sports Detroit or listen on 97.1 FM the Ticket.