Detroit Pistons (11-34) vs. Denver Nuggets (23-21)
January 23, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Denver Nuggets -11.5; Over/Under: -217.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets duke it out at the Ball Arena on Sunday night.
The Detroit Pistons have been in a rut as they’ve lost three of their past four games and they will be hoping to bounce back after getting stopped by the Jazz in a 111-101 road loss on Friday. Cade Cunningham led the team with 25 points, six rebounds and five assists, Trey Lyles added 16 points while Rodney McGruder chipped in with 15 points off the bench. As a team, the Pistons shot 43 percent from the field and 13 of 32 from the 3-point line as they kept pace with the Jazz in a close contest until the fourth quarter where they managed just 19 points to allow the Jazz to pull away in the end. Cory Joseph had a rough night as he scored just eight points on two of seven shooting while Kelly Olynyk scored just four points on one of six shooting off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets have been in decent shape as they’ve won five of their past eight games and they will be hoping to bounce back after falling short to the Grizzlies in a 122-118 loss on Friday. Will Barton led the team with 27 points and eight assists, Nikola Jokic racked up a triple-double of 26 points with 11 rebounds and 12 assists, Monte Morris scored 17 points while Aaron Gordon chipped in with 16 points and nine assists. As a team, the Nuggets shot 47 percent from the field and 13 of 32 from the 3-point line as they got off to a sluggish start and allowed 37 points in the first quarter to fall behind early which left them fighting an uphill battle the rest of the way as they couldn’t make inroads until very late in the fourth quarter.
Looking at the betting trends, the Pistons are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 Sunday games and 1-4 ATS in their last five road games against a team with a winning home record. The Nuggets are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 home games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall.
Head to head, the under is 9-4-1 in the last 14 meetings overall.
The Pistons are going to be shorthanded once again as Killian Hayes, Frank Jackson and Jerami Grant are all still out, while the Nuggets will again be without Jamal Murray, JaMychal Green and Michael Porter Jr. The Pistons have shown signs of life over their past 10 games or so, but the Nuggets are still obvious favorites in this spot despite being a little below their best. The line seems very hefty, so while I have the Nuggets winning this one, I think the Pistons do just enough to get the backdoor cover in this spot.
