The Detroit Pistons will play their second game of the LA back-to-back, taking on the Los Angeles Lakers a night after losing a tight one to the Clippers.
This is the second game of a six-game road trip and the 5th back-to-back the Pistons have played already in this young season.
Tonight they’ll play a Lakers team that hasn’t played a game since last Sunday, so should be well rested, another kink in the schedule that makes me wonder if the NBA really does hate Detroit.
The Pistons sit alone in last place in the Eastern Conference, and the 3-10 Lakers (hahahahahahahahahahah) are tied for last in the Western Conference, so the loser of this one could be the NBA’s worst team by the end of the day.
Detroit is coming off their best defensive effort of the season, but will be shorthanded again tonight against the Lakers. Can they rally and pull one out in LA?
Detroit Pistons vs LA Lakers: Odds, Spread, Over/Under
I’m actually surprised the books even had a line on this game this early considering the uncertainty around who is going to play, but currently Fanduel has Detroit as seven point underdogs on the road.
The money lines are +240 for Detroit and -275 for LA, which is a pretty good indication that the Lakers’ stars are going to play. The over/under is a combined 225.5 points, about 10 points higher than last night.
These two teams give up a combined 232 points on average, so the over seems like the play, but they are also two of the worst offenses in the NBA and Detroit is on the second game of a back-to-back after scoring 91 points.
We could see two bad offenses exchanging bricks all night, so I like the under in this one, as Detroit actually looked good defensively last night.
Pistons injury report: Will Cade Cunningham play?
The Detroit Pistons will be without Isaiah Stewart, which should please LeBron James, and Cade Cunningham is still listed as out, though Detroit has not submitted their most recent injury report yet.
The Lakers have LeBron James listed as questionable along with Juan Toscano-Anderson. Anthony Davis has been upgraded to probable, so I’d expect to see the two Lakers’ stars back in the lineup after having some time off.
Detroit Pistons vs. LA Lakers: Prediction
If Detroit defends with the same effort tonight, they could beat the Lakers, but it’s going to be tough on the second game of a back-to-back. I’m hoping the second night on the same rims will lead to some more shots going in, because last night was brutal.
Even though the Lakers have only won three games, if they have LeBron and AD, Detroit doesn’t have many answers, so it’s going to be tough to pull one off on the road against a well-rested team.
I think we’ll see a spirited effort again tonight but eventually Detroit will run out of gas.
Detroit 108, Los Angeles 115
How to watch Pistons vs. Lakers
The game starts at 10:30 PM ET and will be on Bally Sports Detroit or 97.1 FM The Ticket on the radio if you live off the grid and if you do how are you reading this?
How to stream Pistons vs. Lakers
You can stream the game on FUBO.TV with a free trial, or you can watch it on NBA League Pass if you have it and live out of market.
*Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.