Interesting scheduling by the NBA when it comes to the Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks, two fringe playoff contenders in their respective conferences. Here we are in late January and they finally meet on Friday. Then they play again in six days. The Mavs will be slight NBA odds favorites on Friday.
Pistons at Mavericks NBA Spread & Expert Pick
Hear from coach Casey as well as Blake, Reggie B and Jon after last night’s road win over the Pelicans in this postgame Wired segment, presented by @Jeep! pic.twitter.com/ODT17Hby6F
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) 24 de enero de 2019
- When: Friday, 8:30 PM ET
- Where: American Airlines Center
- TV: NBA TV
- Live Stream: NBA League Pass
- Radio: TuneIn
- NBA Spread: TBA
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Season Series
First meeting. The home team has taken the last three meetings between the two clubs after the road team won the previous six. Detroit has won five of the last seven matchups with Dallas (after the Mavericks won the previous six and 11 of the previous 12). Dallas and Detroit split the 2017-18 season series, 1-1, with the home team winning both times (Dallas recorded a 110-93 victory and Detroit recorded a 113-106 overtime win). Harrison Barnes averaged 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 31.0 minutes per game for Dallas. Overall, the Mavs are 33-41 in the series.
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle began his head coaching career with Detroit and coached the Pistons for two seasons (2001-02 and 2002-03), leading the team to the East Finals in 2002-03.
Why Bet on Detroit?
The Pistons stopped a two-game losing streak with a 98-94 win in New Orleans on Wednesday. The Pelicans had a chance to tie late, but Frank Jackson’s open 3-pointer missed, and Jrue Holiday tapped the rebound out to the top of the key. Reggie Bullock ran down the loose ball and dribbled 60 feet unguarded for a clinching dunk with 14.5 seconds left.
Blake Griffin was great in scoring 37 points with nine rebounds, seven assists, four 3-pointers, and one steal. Griffin committed just one turnover in 38 minutes of action, all while shooting 14-of-28 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line. He’s keeping the Pistons in the playoff chase as the No. 9 seed, despite having a lackluster 20-26 record. In the past month, he’s averaging 27.6 points, 6.4 boards, 5.4 assists, and 1.2 steals.
Reggie Jackson found some traction on Wednesday with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists, making 6-of-11 shots with four 3-pointers. Jackson played 30 minutes and committed just one turnover. Zaza Pachulia made his third consecutive start on Wednesday, posting eight points, 10 rebounds (five offensive), one assist, one steal and one block in 31 minutes.
Coach Dwane Casey said center Andre Drummond, who sustained a concussion in a Jan. 18 win over Miami, felt “spry and full of energy” in shootaround, but he still missed his third consecutive game. That’s why Pachulia has been starting. Drummond could play here, but that’s why the opening TBA as he’s the NBA’s best rebounder and a force inside.
Team Stats
Offense- Total Score: 106.00
- Field Goal Percentage: 43.33
- Three-Point Percentage: 33.23
- Free Throw Percentage: 73.83
- Total Rebounds: 45.64
Defense
- Total Score: 108.57
- Field Goal Percentage: 47.16
- Three-Point Percentage: 32.59
- Free Throw Percentage: 76.42
- Total Rebounds: 44.21
Why Bet on Dallas?
The Mavs snapped a four-game skid Tuesday with a 106-98 win over the Clippers. After missing six games under circumstances with trade talk percolating, Dennis Smith returned — and was immediately restored as a starter by Rick Carlisle. Smith stayed away for six total games. Back stiffness was the official reason for the first three games Smith missed, but that changed to illness while he was absent.
Smith played well Tuesday, hitting 6-of-17 shots, a 3-pointer and 4-of-4 free throws for 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal in 37 minutes. Luka Doncic hit 5-of-15 shots and missed all eight of his 3-pointers on Tuesday, but still had 17 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Doncic was hounded by Avery Bradley’s solid defense all night and took his frustration out on his jersey on the way to the locker room at half time, ripping it from the neck down through his chest.
Doncic is averaging 19.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this year. The only rookies in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists per game for a season are Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan. Doncic, who is just 19 years old, has shown the ability to come up big for Dallas when the game is on the line. Doncic has scored 74 points in clutch time (where the score is within 5 points in the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime) this year, which is the 13th-most among all NBA players in 2018-19 (and the most among all rookies).
DeAndre Jordan got off to a hot start on Tuesday and kept it going, finishing with 13 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, a steal and five blocks in 35 minutes. Jordan looked to be highly motivated against his former team. Jordan is averaging 13 points, 14 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.8 blocks on 68 percent shooting over his last five games.
Team Stats
Offense- Total Score: 109.43
- Field Goal Percentage: 44.91
- Three-Point Percentage: 34.47
- Free Throw Percentage: 74.41
- Total Rebounds: 46.04
Defense
- Total Score: 109.47
- Field Goal Percentage: 45.89
- Three-Point Percentage: 34.57
- Free Throw Percentage: 77.00
- Total Rebounds: 43.79
Pistons at Mavericks NBA Betting Trends
- Favorite is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings
- Detroit is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
- Detroit is 8-17 SU in its last 25 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Detroit’s last 9 games
- Dallas is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
- Dallas is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Dallas’s last 11 games
Expert NBA Betting Prediction for Pistons at Mavericks
We like Mavs regardless of Drummond.
