The Detroit Pistons are free-falling to the point they are close to being eliminated from playoff contention. Hard to imagine things get any better during their long current road trip when they visit the NBA’s best team on Thursday in Houston, which will be a sizable NBA odds favorite.
The Rockets are the NBA’s best team and ended the Blazers’ 13-game winning streak on Tuesday, 115-111. James Harden had 42 points, including two clutch 3-pointers. Chris Paul added 22 points for the Rockets, who have won six straight and 23 of their last 24 and have the best record in the NBA. Al-Farouq Aminu had 22 points, including six 3-pointers, for Portland. The Blazers had also won nine straight at the Moda Center before the loss. Houston finished with 19 3-pointers while Portland had 11.
However, I’d wait on backing Houston here to see if Paul will play. He is listed as questionable with a hamstring tweak suffered late in Tuesday’s game. He stayed in, made a couple clutch free throws and told Dennis Scott that he was all right after the game, but he was clearly in pain and doing some limping right after the injury occurred, and also sat out the final inbounds play of the game. The Rockets are 46-7 when he plays this year. Paul has scored 20+ points in three of the past six games and 23 times overall this season (Rockets 21-2 mark). Paul has dealt with several left hamstring strains over his career, so the Rockets would be wise to hold him out. If he is out, that means more of Eric Gordon, Gerald Green and more work for the forwards, too.
The Rockets are 57-14 and needs two wins over the final 11 games of the season to finish with the best record in franchise history (58-24 in 1993-94). Houston became the 13th team dating back to 2000-01 to record at least 50 wins within the first 63 games of a season. Houston is 30-3 over the past 33 games, including six straight wins, after going 2-7 the nine games prior.
The Rockets have won 13 straight at home after losing three of four at Toyota Center from 12/20-1/4. That is the third-longest home winning streak in franchise history (21 and 15). Since winning its first five games decided by five or fewer points, Houston has gone 4-4 in such games (9-4 overall; 15-6 in 2016-17).
Pistons at Rockets NBA Odds & Game Preview – March 22nd
When: Thursday, 8 PM ET Where: Toyota Center, Houston TV: NBA League Pass, FSDT Stream: NBA.tv Radio: 97.1 FM (Detroit) / 610 AM (Houston) NBA Odds: Rockets -11.5Latest NBA Betting Trends
- Detroit is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 games
- Detroit is 5-13 SU in the last 18 games
- The total went UNDER in 5 of Detroit’s last 6 games
- Houston is 3-7 ATS in the last 10 games at home
- Houston is 5-0 SU in the last 5 games
- The total wentUNDER in 6 of Houston’s last 8 games
Season Series
Detroit goes for the surprising season sweep. They beat visiting Houston 108-101 on Jan. 6. Down by a point with 9:22 to go in the third, Detroit used a 12-2 run to take a 75-65 advantage with 4:48 remaining and led by 11 (88-77) after three quarters of play. The Pistons extended their lead to 16 (100-84) with 3:57 to play in the game, but Houston used a 15-3 run to slice the Pistons’ lead to four (105-101) with 16.1 seconds to go. Detroit knocked down three straight free throws to seal the game. Tobias Harris, no longer with the Pistons, ended with a game-high 27 points. Chris Paul led Houston with 16 points. James Harden didn’t play due to injury. Detroit didn’t have Blake Griffin then. Since winning 7 straight vs. Detroit from 12/7/10-3/1/14, they Rockets have lost five of the past seven games. The Rockets also have dropped the past two at home in the series and haven’t lost 3 straight at home vs. Detroit since series-high 4 from 10/25/80/-2/14/84. Detroit is trying for its second series sweep over past 3 seasons after none in the prior nine. Over the past three meetings, Pistons are averaging 106.0 ppg on 44.4% shooting while Rockets are averaging 103.0 ppg on 42.7% shooting.Why Bet on Detroit’s NBA Odds?
The Pistons had been absolutely horrid on the road for several weeks and started this current six-game road trip with losses in Utah, Denver and Portland. However, they have rallied for a win in Sacramento on Monday and on Tuesday in Phoenix, 115-88. Granted, the Kings and Suns are awful. The Detroit Pistons won their second consecutive road game for the first time since the middle of December (14-15). Against Phoenix, Blake Griffin led six Detroit players in double figures, finishing with 26 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds before sitting out most of the final quarter. Griffin has been on an impressive run over his last four games, posting averages of 23.3 points, 8.3 assists and 7.5 rebounds. Luke Kennard added 16 points and Ish Smith 13 for the Pistons. More important, Reggie Jackson was back in the Detroit starting lineup after missing 24 games with a severe ankle sprain. He scored seven points on 3-of-7 shooting in 15 minutes. Jackson did have a fall in the fourth quarter, but he didn’t grab his ankle and he came out of this game without any setbacks. The Pistons will gradually increase his workload. Andre Drummond has collected 40-plus double-doubles in five consecutive seasons, the longest such streak by a Piston since Bill Laimbeer recorded five straight seasons from 1982-83 to 1986-87. The Pistons have forced 10-plus turnovers in 70 of 71 games this season and in 58 consecutive games. The 58-game streak with at least 10 forced turnovers is the longest current streak in the NBA and the longest since a 57-game streak spanning the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.Why Bet on Houston’s NBA Odds?
The Rockets are the NBA’s best team and ended the Blazers’ 13-game winning streak on Tuesday, 115-111. James Harden had 42 points, including two clutch 3-pointers. Chris Paul added 22 points for the Rockets, who have won six straight and 23 of their last 24 and have the best record in the NBA. Al-Farouq Aminu had 22 points, including six 3-pointers, for Portland. The Blazers had also won nine straight at the Moda Center before the loss. Houston finished with 19 3-pointers while Portland had 11.
However, I’d wait on backing Houston here to see if Paul will play. He is listed as questionable with a hamstring tweak suffered late in Tuesday’s game. He stayed in, made a couple clutch free throws and told Dennis Scott that he was all right after the game, but he was clearly in pain and doing some limping right after the injury occurred, and also sat out the final inbounds play of the game. The Rockets are 46-7 when he plays this year. Paul has scored 20+ points in three of the past six games and 23 times overall this season (Rockets 21-2 mark). Paul has dealt with several left hamstring strains over his career, so the Rockets would be wise to hold him out. If he is out, that means more of Eric Gordon, Gerald Green and more work for the forwards, too.
The Rockets are 57-14 and needs two wins over the final 11 games of the season to finish with the best record in franchise history (58-24 in 1993-94). Houston became the 13th team dating back to 2000-01 to record at least 50 wins within the first 63 games of a season. Houston is 30-3 over the past 33 games, including six straight wins, after going 2-7 the nine games prior.
The Rockets have won 13 straight at home after losing three of four at Toyota Center from 12/20-1/4. That is the third-longest home winning streak in franchise history (21 and 15). Since winning its first five games decided by five or fewer points, Houston has gone 4-4 in such games (9-4 overall; 15-6 in 2016-17).
