While the Detroit Pistons are playing some of their best basketball of the season, the Washington Wizards continue to sink further into NBA basement. Tonight the two teams square off at 7:30 ET at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
NBA betting shops had opened the Pacers as a 7.5 point favorite with the matchup's total set at 190. The NBA lines have slightly shifted, as most NBA odds boards now offer the spread at 8 points with a total of 190.5.
Lets look at this matchup and the numbers on offer, as we decide where the best value for our NBA picks lies in this game.
The Pistons (20-33 SU, 26-26-1) have won four of their last five games
and two straight at home. They beat Orlando 102-95 on Tuesday night as six
different Detroit players scored in double figures including Greg Monroe who
had 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons played without leading scorer Rodney
Stuckey (hamstring) who has missed three games but could see action tonight. Ben Gordon who also set out three games because of a groin injury,
returned Tuesday and scored 18 against the Magic.
Wizards Wasted Season
Washington (12-42 SU, 20-33-1 ATS) fell to Indiana on Wednesday
106-96 for its third consecutive defeat and eighth in nine games. Jordan
Crawford scored a game-high 28 points.
The Wizards played their third straight
game without Nene and Trevor Booker, both suffering from plantar fasciitis
in the left foot. Kevin Seraphin helped fill the void down low with a
career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards who will be playing their
fourth game in five nights tonight.
Hitting the Wall
John Wall had 13 points against Indiana
but missed 11 of his 15 field goal attempts. Wall finished with three assists
and a game-high five turnovers in just 28 minutes — his fewest in more than two
months. Wall is in the midst of his worst slump of the season and over his past
10 games, he is averaging 12.4 points and shooting just 32.8 percent.
Rewriting the record books
The Wizards have 13 games left
on another agonizing season (players and fans included) that has yielded a
coaching change, some roster upheaval and several more reasons to have doubt in
the rebuilding plan of the past two years. All that plus they need to win at
least three more games to avoid setting a new franchise mark for futility in a
season.
The Wizards have gone 10-26 since Randy
Wittman replaced Flip Saunders as head coach on Jan.?24 and are 3-9 since they
traded JaVale McGee, Nick Young and Ronny Turiaf at the trade deadline to get
Nene.
The Wizards have seven games on the
road, where they have gone just 5-21 this season. That’s actually an
improvement from last season, when the team won just three of its 41 road games.
Washington could play the spoiler in the
race. Six opponents on the Wizards’ schedule are currently among the top eight
teams in the Eastern Conference race — Indiana, New York, Orlando, Chicago and
Miami (twice). Milwaukee, which has won three games against the Wizards this
season, is in ninth place and battling with the Knicks for the final spot.
Lottery
The Wizards were eliminated from
playoff contention before the final month of the season for the fourth year in
a row but may find a reward come May as they currently have the second-best
odds to win the NBA lottery and earn the right to draft national college
basketball player of the year and NCAA tournament most outstanding
player Anthony Davis. That’s assuming the Bobcats don’t end up with the first
pick in the draft.
Charlotte has a 25 percent chance of
winning the top overall pick, but the Wizards are right behind at 19.9 percent.
New Orleans (13-40) is also making it a tight race for the most ping pong
balls, at 15.6 percent.
Harvey’s Take: The Wizards seem perpetually in search
for better days. And, for a franchise that has finished with a winning record
in just 18 of its 51 seasons of existence, the past four seasons have actually
amounted to the worst run ever for the organization. Sounds like a good reason
for a fade tonight and for the rest of the season.
It’s Detroit for me tonight.
Good luck!
Check out why Steven Suarez is backing the Pistons as well