DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>. The over\/under is set at 226.5 points.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s a preview, prediction and pick for Thursday\u2019s Pistons vs. Pelicans matchup.<\/p>\n
Pistons vs. Pelicans prediction, preview<\/p>\n
The Pistons built a four-game lead atop the Eastern Conference, giving them some cushion while Cade Cunningham recovers from his injury. He last played on March 17 against the Wizards and is set to be re-evaluated in one week.<\/p>\n
Detroit has played well in its star\u2019s absence, winning three of four games, including one against the Los Angeles Lakers. Jalen Duren and Daniss Jenkins have been instrumental in keeping the team from falling in the standings. They\u2019re a major reason why the Pistons are 3.5-point favorites in this game. <\/p>\n
Home-court advantage helps, too, as Detroit is 27-9 at home. Meanwhile, the Pelicans are 9-26 on the road. Despite the record disparity, New Orleans is playing well lately. Prior to its two-game losing streak, the team won five of six games. Trey Murphy III, Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray and Saddiq Bey have played key roles over this stretch.<\/p>\n
New Orleans has the 10th best defensive rating and 14th best offensive rating over the last five games. That\u2019s a jump from its season ranking of 24th defensive and 20th offensive rating. The play has improved, but most of the team\u2019s recent wins are against weaker opponents. The five most recent wins are against the Clippers twice, Wizards, Raptors and Mavericks.<\/p>\n
The Pistons are 11th in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating over their last five games. It\u2019s a slight dip from their season rankings of ninth and second, respectively, but that\u2019s expected considering Cunningham is sidelined. It\u2019s still a great set of ratings, but the recent schedule has also been lackluster. Detroit has beaten the Wizards twice, Warriors and Lakers without Cunningham. <\/p>\n
Pistons vs. Pelicans pick, best bet<\/p>\n
The Pelicans are playing better and Cunningham is out. That could be an argument for New Orleans to win or cover the +3.5 spread. However, that\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n
The Pistons have built a contender that isn\u2019t contingent on Cunningham\u2019s health. Sure, they won\u2019t win a title without him, but they can win games without their star. The teams have been weaker opponents\u2014aside from the Lakers\u2014but so have the Pelicans\u2019 recent matchups.<\/p>\n
The better team is favored at home. Pistons will cover the -3.5 spread.<\/p>\n
Best bet: Detroit Pistons -3.5 (-115)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brendan O\u2019Sullivan dives into his pick and prediction for the Detroit Pistons vs. New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3773],"tags":[7,296,188,3860,6,297],"class_list":{"0":"post-680437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-pistons","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-detroitpistons","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-pistons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116296511073318629","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}