LeBron James and the Miami Heat will look for a third straight win Wednesday as
they travel to Detroit to battle it out with the Pistons.
It's been another season to forget for the Detroit Pistons, who
currently sit in 11th in the Eastern Conference standings.
A poor run over the last few weeks has further plunged the
Pistons back, as they've lost four of their last six.
They hung tough in Atlanta on Sunday but eventually would go
on to lose 96-104 to the Hawks as 7-point underdogs.
Greg Monroe had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three steals to
pace the Pistons, while Rodney Stuckey provided a spark off the bench with 22
points and eight assists.
I don't see a win on the cards for Detroit here on Wednesday
though against LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
After falling off the wagon a little bit, the Heat have
rebounded quite nicely with five wins out of their six most recent matchups.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 65 of Miami's 103 points
in this past weekend's victory over the Denver Nuggets. The final piece of the
Big Three, Chris Bosh, accounted for 18 points, 11 boards and six assists.
Heating up?
Though they may be playing better recently, the Miami Heat haven't
been so hot against the spread.
Miami is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 matchups overall coming into
Wednesday and has only covered in one of its previous six games up against
Eastern Conference opponents.
On the other hand the Pistons have cashed in four of their
last five home contests and are 4-1 ATS in their last five encounters with
Eastern Conference foes.
Road teams in the recent series has gone 5-1 ATS in the
previous six meetings between these two franchises, while the Heat are an
impressive 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 trips to Detroit.
Clearly the boys from South Beach will be favored on the
road, and the NBA odds boards are posting them as 8.5 point favorites, and the line remains unchanged at most sportsbooks.
The Heat have kicked it up a notch on the defensive end as
of late, allowing only 88.8 points over their previous five contests. In that
same span, the Pistons have given up 105.4 PPG.
In all actuality, Miami has the edge in essentially every
category and has won three times in a row over a Detroit team that has really
underperformed all season long.
Over two months ago the Heat came into the Motor City and
beat Detroit 106-92 with both LeBron and D-Wade nearing triple-doubles. I'm
expecting a similar final result in Wednesday's game.
FREE NBA Pick: Miami wins its third straight, gaining
some ground on Boston and Chicago in the process