Pistons vs Kings NBA Betting Lines & Game Preview

Pistons vs Kings NBA Betting Lines & Game Preview

Written by on January 10, 2019

The late game on a light Thursday NBA schedule is Detroit at Sacramento, two teams that are hanging around the fringes of the playoff races in their respective conferences but not likely to make it. The Kings are NBA betting favorites with Detroit playing the second of a back-to-back.

How to Bet Pistons vs Kings NBA Betting Lines & Game Info

Season Series

The first meeting, with Detroit winning both last year. In their last meeting of the 2017-18 season, the Pistons won 106-90 in Sacramento. The Kings were down 66-57 with 5:12 left in the third — after a 9-0 Pistons run — and would not retake the lead or tie the ball game as the Pistons went up by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter.

The Kings shot .455 percent from the field but just .261 percent from beyond the arc (6-for-23) as they also shot a franchise-tying low four free throws on just nine attempts while Detroit went 37-of-39 from the field (.468) and 14-for-29 from long distance (.483). Kings guard Buddy Hield finished with a game-high 20 points while adding six boards. Pistons forward Blake Griffin recorded 26 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.

The Pistons are 7-3 against the Kings dating back to 2013-14. Detroit holds a 135-119 all-time record against the Kings with a 79-31 home record and a 44-66 road mark.

Why Bet on Detroit?

Detroit started a Western Conference four-game swing Wednesday at the Lakers on a two-game skid. Backup center Zaza Pachulia missed his fifth straight game on Wednesday with a right lower leg contusion. Ish Smith (groin) also sat again but is getting closer.

The Pistons have only allowed four opponents to shoot .400 or better from 3-point range this season. The Pistons rank first in the NBA in opponent 3-point percentage (.318) and 14th in the league in opponent scoring (109.7 ppg). Detroit ranks fourth in the NBA in offensive rebounding, pulling down an average of 12.0 per contest.

Blake Griffin now has 10 games with four-plus 3-pointers on the season, easily setting the most games he has had in a season with as many threes in his career (had four total games from 2010-11 to 2017-18). He has hit at least two treys 25 times through 37 games this season, after totaling 51 games with two or more 3-pointers through 529 career games prior to 2018-19. Griffin has made at least three triples in 14 games this season. Griffin set a career best for a three-game span with 14 triples from 10/20-10/25 and set a career high with six triples at Houston (11/21).

Reggie Bullock is averaging 14.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 33.1 minutes per contest over the last 12 games since he returned from a left ankle sprain. Andre Drummond ranks first in the NBA in rebounds (14.9 rpg), offensive rebounds per game (5.3) and second-chance scoring per game (5.5). Drummond is also fifth in the NBA in defensive rebounds per game (9.7), fourth in points in the paint (13.9 ppg), tied for second in total double-doubles (32) and 11th in blocks per game (1.8). Drummond and Griffin each have 13 games with 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds.

Why Bet on Sacramento?

The Kings were 115-111 losers in Phoenix on Tuesday. The Suns’ Kelly Oubre matched his career high with 26 points, including a one-handed rebound jam with 11.1 seconds to play, and the Suns snapped a six-game losing streak, rallying from a 21-point deficit. The Kings committed a season-high 26 turnovers, 17 in the second half. Sacramento lost for the fifth time in six games.

De’Aaron Fox scored 24 and Ben McLemore 20 for the Kings. Fox committed eight turnovers — seven in the second half. McLemore has only played in 16 games this season and his previous high was just 11 points.

Bogdan Bogdanovic started for Iman Shumpert (finger) again on Tuesday, but struggled, hitting 3-of-11 shots and a 3-pointer for seven points, three rebounds, five assists, a block and four turnovers in 30 minutes. That snapped a nine-game double-digit scoring streak, but he’s still cruising, averaging 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.6 steals. Willie Cauley-Stein hit 6-of-11 shots and just 3-of-8 free throws for 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in 31 minutes.

Pistons vs Kings should be an easy victory for Sacramento.

With 15 three-pointers against the Suns, the Kings have now pushed their streak with 10 or more three-pointers in a game to 12 games, the longest streak in franchise history with 10 or more three-pointers which began on Dec. 17 with 14 three-pointers at Minnesota. Buddy Hield has totaled 134 three-pointers this season through the team’s first 41 games, which is the most three-pointers by a Kings player through the team’s first 41 games in franchise history.

The Kings have proven to be one of the better teams in the NBA this season when it comes to their second-half play as they are averaging 56.9 points in the second half of play, the third most by a team this season. Sacramento is knocking down .410 percent of their shots from beyond the arc in the second half marking the highest percentage by a team this season as they are the only team to shoot over .400 percent from three-point range in the second half.

Pistons vs Kings NBA Betting Trends

  • Under is 12-3-1 in the last 16 meetings in Sacramento
  • Underdog is 12-5-2 ATS in the last 19 meetings
  • Road team is 14-5-2 ATS in the last 21 meetings
  • Detroit is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games
  • Detroit is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Detroit’s last 21 games
  • Sacramento is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games
  • Sacramento is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 11 of Sacramento’s last 15 games

Expert NBA Betting Prediction for Pistons vs Kings

Score: Detroit Pistons 110 – Sacramento Kings 120