Pistons betting odds vs. Wizards: Is Detroit the best bad team?

Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons will try to get their first win of the season vs. the Washington Wizards after dropping the first three in close contests.

Detroit is getting used to close games, as they are 15-1-1 against the spread in their last 16 and haven’t been blown out since the middle of February.

The Pistons have been one of the best bad teams this year, an oxymoron that simply means they are losing but not getting hammered in every game.

Detroit has been the 9th-best team in the NBA at covering the spread this season, 2nd-highest among lottery teams.

The top honor for lottery teams goes to OKC, who has covered over 63 percent of the time this season, 2nd overall in the league behind Memphis. The Pistons sit at 54.9 percent. While covering the spread is not everything, it is an indication that a team is playing better than the perception and that they are mostly losing close games.

Hopefully this means the Pistons are on the cusp of being good and is a sign that better days are coming soon.

The Wizards are dead last in the NBA at covering the spread, only doing it 40 percent of the time, an indication that they are playing below expectations.

They’ll be missing Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma and Vernon Carey Jr. tonight and the Pistons will get Frank Jackson back (while losing Isaiah Livers with a concussion and continuing to miss Hamidou Diallo) and hope to get their first win of the season against Washington in their fourth try.

Detroit Pistons vs. Washington Wizards: Odds, spread, over/under and best bets

According to WynnBET, the Pistons are favored by 2.5 points at home against the Wizards.

Since the home team is usually spotted three points or so, the books see this one as pretty much even.

The money lines are +120 for Washington and -145 for Detroit, so I would take Detroit to win by at least three and get the better odds.

The over/under is set at 219 combined points, pretty much the middle ground between what these two teams score and allow combined on the season.

However, the Pistons have averaged 115 points over their last three games and are nearly back to full strength, so I like the over in this one.

I think the Pistons are going to roll at home and win 122-110.

Cade Cunningham, Jerami Grant and Saddiq Bey have combined for nearly 60 points per game on average when they have all been in there, but I’d stick with Cade, who has favorable matchups and is still trying to pad his Rookie of the Year resume.

Marvin Bagley III has been relatively quiet lately, but he and Kelly Olynyk have favorable matchups in this one and I like both of them for double digit nights.

Killian Hayes has been quietly filling the stat sheet off the bench and could be a good low-cost play in this one, but buyer beware, as he is also a risk to do very little.

How to watch Pistons vs. Wizards

The game against Washington tips off at 7:00 PM ET and you can watch on Bally Sports Detroit or listen on 97.1 FM the Ticket.