The Detroit Pistons travel to California to take on the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
Heading to their Wednesday game versus the Los Angeles Lakers, The Detroit Pistons have dropped 14 out their last 18 games to fall behind in the team standings. Detroit is currently at 17-21, 3rd the central division and 9th in the Eastern Conference team standings. With the season passing by so fast, the Pistons need to get things going to give themselves a chance at making the postseason.
Blake Griffin is averaging 25.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game this season. Andre Drummond leads the league in rebounds at 14.9 boards per contest while also averaging 17.1 points, 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. Reggie Jackson is scoring 15.1 points and issuing 4.3 assists per game for the Pistons.
The Pistons are ranked 24th in team scoring at 107.2 points per game. Detroit is also 25th in the passing department with an average of 22.1 assists per game. They are 9th best rebounding team at 46.4 boards grabbed per contest. The Pistons allow 109.7 points per game which puts them at 14th among 30 teams.
Like this Pistons, the Sacramento Kings are in a funk, losing five out of their last five games. In their last outing, the Kings lost to the lowly Phoenix Suns, 111-115 in Phoenix, to drop to 20-21 on the season, 4th in the Pacific Division and currently 10th in the Western Conference team standings but just four game back of the 5th seeded Portland Trail Blazers.
Buddy Hield leads the Kings in scoring at 20.2 points per game. Bogdan Bogdanovic is averaging 15.4 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game. But the big difference for the Kings this season is the emergence of second year man De’Aaron Fox who is averaging 18.0 points plus a team-high 7.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
The Kings rank 5th in the NBA in scoring at 115.0 points per game. They are also 8th in passing at 25.6 assists per game and 18th in rebounding at 44.5 boards per contest. Detroit is allowing 116.4 points per game which ranks them at 28th among 30 NBA teams this season.
Entering Wednesday’s games, the Pistons are 3-7 SU in their last 10 games played. Detroit is 6-11 SU on the road this season. The Kings are 4-6 SU in their last 10 games played and Sacramento is 11-10 SU at home this season. Head to head, the Pistons are 7-3 SU in their last 10 meetings.
Both the Pistons and Kings were off to a good start this season. But since then, both have fallen from grace and are now both out of the playoff picture. However, there is still half of the season to be played and with both teams in striking distance, making the postseason is still a possibility. However, both teams must start winning again.
Detroit hasn’t found much success playing away from home this season but the Kings are just a shade over the .500 mark at their home floor too. The main consideration here is that the Pistons are playing back to back games and Detroit is 4-6 SU in their last 10 second games of a back to back. Also, the Pistons are still licking the wounds from their blowout loss to the Lakers the previous night so they may not have enough time to recover.
The Kings are well-rested and I don’t think the Detroit defense can stop the Kings’ offense in Sacramento, not on tired legs and not after getting blown out by the Lakers the night before. I’ll take the favorites here because they are well rested and are playing at their home floor. We’re picking the Sacramento Kings to beat the Detroit Pistons on 1/10/19.
The Pistons are 17-20-1 ATS this season. Detroit 9-8 ATS on the road this season. Sacramento is 23-17-1 ATS this season. The Kings are 13-7-1 ATS in 21 home games played so far. Head to head, the Pistons are 5-3-2 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Kings.
The Pistons are 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 games against the Pacific Division. They are also 11-5 ATS in their last 16 games against Western Conference teams. Detroit is also 5-2 ATS in their last seven games played on zero days rest. The Kings meanwhile are just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games overall. The trends point to the Pistons but Detroit is playing on a back to back schedule and were blown out by the Lakers the previous night. I don’t think the Pistons can match the home team’s offense nor do they have the defense to stop them. Prediction: Kings -5
The under is 20-18 in Detroit’s 38 games played so far. The under is also 9-8 in the 17 road games the Pistons have played this season. The total has gone over in 27 out of the 41 games played by the Kings this season. Sacramento has seen the total go over in 11 out of 21 home games. Head to head, the under is 7-3 in their last 10 meetings.
The Kings are one of the best scoring teams this season. They are 5th in scoring and shooting 47% from the field and 39% from the three point area. Meanwhile, Detroit has a defense that’s just in the middle of the pack and given Sacramento’s firepower, the Pistons may not have enough to stop the Kings from pouring it on. Eight out of Sacramento’s last 10 games has produced a total higher that 224.5 points. Prediction: Over 224.5
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