Will the Detroit Pistons hit the over with 18 games to go?

The Detroit Pistons are playing their best basketball of the season, winning five of seven overall to somewhat offset their horrible start.

Fans were optimistic in the offseason, thinking that the young team could make a leap after a competitive season and the additions of Cade Cunningham and Kelly Olynyk.

But injuries and growing pains dampened that enthusiasm pretty early on and the Pistons now carry the league’s third-worst record with 18 games to go.

Most sports books had the Pistons’ over/under for wins at 24.5, which is attainable, as Detroit currently has 17 wins with 18 games to go.

So will bettors be paid off for their optimism or will Detroit once again fall short of preseason expectations?

Detroit Pistons schedule and the over/under

In my early-season predictions, I picked the Pistons to win fewer than 24.5 games, as I thought it would take them some time to gel and that they’d be affected by the loss of a couple of key veterans.

They would have to go 8-10 down the stretch to hit the over, and I would be happy to be wrong about this one, as wins are more important than a slight chance the lottery odds will change.

I have broken the rest of the Pistons’ schedule into three parts, the games where they will be clear underdogs, games they might be favored and games that are a toss up.

Underdogs

• Bulls
• Celtics
• Clippers
• Heat
• Nets
• 76ers (x2)
• Mavericks
• Bucks

Favored

• Magic
• Knicks
• Thunder
• Pacers

Toss Up

• Cavaliers
• Trail Blazers
• Hawks (x2)
• Wizards

The Detroit Pistons would have to win 8-of-9 of the games in which they will either be favored or a toss-up, which is a pretty tall task.

Most of those teams will be tanking down the stretch but Cleveland will be desperate for a win, as will the Hawks, who are currently clinging onto the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference.

All of the games in which the Pistons will be underdogs are against teams that will be battling for playoff position, so they won’t be resting their guys down the stretch.

If I had to bet again now, I’d say the Pistons will come up just short of hitting the over and will end with 24 victories on the season.

For those of us who made this bet in the preseason, it might come down to the final game, which should make this finish exciting even though Detroit is not in playoff contention.