Detroit Pistons (10-29) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (18-17)
January 2, 2023 10:00 pm EDT
The Line: Portland Trail Blazers -9.5; Over/Under: +226.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Detroit Pistons and the Portland Trail Blazers duke it out at the Moda Center on Monday night.
The Detroit Pistons have been in a slump as they’ve lost seven of their last nine games, but they will be aiming to build some momentum here after beating the Timberwolves in a 116-104 road win on Saturday. Bojan Bogdanovic led the team with 28 points with six rebounds and five assists, Marvin Bagley added 18 points with 10 rebounds and two blocks while Saddiq Bey and Alec Burks each scored 13 points. As a team, the Pistons shot 48 percent from the field and 10 of 27 from the 3-point line as they got off to a terrible start and leaked 39 points in the first quarter to trail by as many as 18 points, but they didn’t give up and dominated the second half by 66-40 to win comfortably in the end.
Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers have been in a rut as they’ve lost five of their last seven games overall and they will be hoping to bounce back here after falling short to the Warriors in a 118-112 road loss on Friday. Damian Lillard led the team with 34 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Anfernee Simons added 22 points while Jerami Grant chipped in with 19 points and five assists. As a team, the Trail Blazers shot 46 percent from the field and 12 of 39 from the 3-point line as they exploded for 40 points in the third quarter to turn an 18-point deficit into an 11-point lead, but they couldn’t find their offense when it mattered most, scoring just 16 points in the fourth quarter to allow the Warriors off the hook in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Pistons are 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 road games, 1-3-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall. The Trail Blazers are 5-0 ATS in their last five home games, 5-2 ATS in their last seven games against a team below .400 and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Portland, the Pistons are 0-4 ATS in the last four meetings overall and the Pistons are 1-3-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Portland.
The Pistons are going to be shorthanded once again as Killian Hayes is still serving his suspension, while the Trail Blazers are keeping eyes on Keon Johnson, Greg Brown and Jusuf Nurkic who are all questionable. The Pistons were ice-cold before they beat the Timberwolves in an upset win on Saturday, so it’s hard to back them against a Trail Blazers team who should come out swinging after dropping their last game to the Warriors. Lillard has been in great form for the Trail Blazers and I think he should be able to lead them past this struggling Pistons team.
