Bettors Hoping Pistons Can Bounce Back After End of Winning Streak
Team Page: Portland :: Detroit
63% of Bets Placed on Detroit -10.5 | Matchup | NBA Picks
The Detroit Pistons’ longest winning streak of the season ended against one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference. They now look to begin a new winning streak against one of the worst teams in the West.
The Pistons try to bounce back at home Tuesday when they take on the lowly Portland Trail Blazers.
Oddsmakers have made Detroit -10.5 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for todays game, the over/under has been set at
193.5 total points (View NBA Sports Books).
Detroit (11-6) was averaging 102.6 points per game during an eight-game winning streak, but after playing three games in four nights, the Pistons seemed to run out of energy in a 97-89 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday.
Rasheed Wallace scored 19 points and Tayshaun Prince added 17 for the Pistons, who scored the game’s first nine points before the Bobcats took over.
“It hurt us a little bit,” guard Chauncey Billups said of the quick start. “It came so easily. Most times when we’re playing a really young team and we’re an elite team and then we jump on a lead like that, most teams could pretty much give up. They didn’t, to their credit.”
The Pistons shot just 40.7 percent from the field – their lowest total in 12 games.
“They outplayed us,” said Billups, who scored 14 points to pass 9,000 for his career. “We didn’t play as hard as we’ve been playing. We could never get into a flow. That’s how it is some nights.”
Following Tuesday’s game against the Blazers, the Pistons play back-to-back games against the Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic – teams with two of the league’s best records – during a four-game road trip that begins Thursday.
Detroit has won five of the last six meetings against Portland (6-12). The Blazers enter Tuesday’s game struggling, having lost five straight including a 107-96 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
Zach Randolph was the only Portland starter to score in double figures, with 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting. Martell Webster added 18 points off the bench.
Portland failed to take advantage of playing six of the last seven games at home, losing five of the six contests there.
“For a month we were scrapping and doing some things,” coach Nate McMillan said. “And now, as young guys, I think we’re searching.”
The Blazers, who are 2-6 on the road, are beginning a six-game stretch away from Portland. Jarrett Jack, who scored just nine points Sunday after averaging in double figures the previous seven games, said the team is going to have to start playing better defense.
Blazers’ opponents have scored at least 105 points in four of the last six games.
“Defensively, the coach says it’s up to the players. We need to dig down and make some defensive stops,” Jack said. “He sees it in glimpses, like earlier in the season. We need to get back to doing that.”
By: Marc Young – theSpread.com – Email Us
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