No blowout for the Pistons?
The bottom of the league Detroit Pistons take on the Miami Heat on Sunday night. The Pistons’ last home win over Spoelstra’s squad was nearly two years ago, but this time at least there are no signs of a blowout for the hosts as the visitors arrive decimated.
Detroit Pistons – Statistics & current form
The basketballers from Motown have earned their current position in last place in the Eastern Conference primarily through a weak offence. Oklahoma alone has fewer points on 100 possessions in the NBA.
At the same time, the Michigan hoopsters also rank among the worst ten teams in the league in terms of defensive rating. However, the first pick of the last draft in the person of Cade Cunningham is reliable. With the loss of the previous best scorer Jerami Grant, the rookie is now in demand especially in the forward game.
Cade Cunningham takes responsibility
A task that Cunningham has fulfilled very well so far. This also applies to Saddiq Bey with some reservations. The small forward is also only in his second season in the NBA, but his playing talent was already evident in last year’s debut season.
In that season, Bey was also selected to the All-Rookie First Team and during the course of the season, the 22-year-old picked up a Player of the Week award in the East. He scored 23 points against the Houston Rockets in the dress rehearsal for the upcoming matchup against Miami and has delivered an average of 25.5 points over the past two games.
Miami Heat – Statistics & current form
The guests travel with a decimated squad. Especially the absence of the previously best rebounder Bam Adebayo and the strongest scorer Jimmy Butler hurts. However, players like Max Strus and Gabe Vincent have recently stepped into the breach.
The former shooting guard delivered 32 points in the last game win over Orlando, hitting eight times from outside – a number he has never managed in his career.
Backups step in
His hitting rate of over 72 percent from downtown surely makes even the experts of throws from downtown like Stephen Curry or Buddy Hield only nod impressively. The aforementioned Gabe Vincent has also been very consistent.
Due to the tight personnel situation in Miami, the bench player was always allowed to play more than 30 minutes in the last four games and the point guard made use of the higher usage time at least in the last two won games against the Sixers and Magic with an average of 26.5 points.
Detroit Pistons – Miami Heat Tip
For the game at Little Caesars Arena between the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat, the prediction is that the home side will win or lose by a maximum of six points.
This is supported by the fact that the bottom team in the East also has a negative record at home, but the games are usually not lost by a large margin. This can be seen from an average gap of just under eight points. Since the guests are not in their best line-up, this difference should now be undercut.
The prediction is backed up by the statistics of the match: Only two of Detroit’s last twelve home games against the Florida side ended with an away win by more than six points. Bet365 offers betting odds of 1.95 for the clash between Detroit and Miami.
