NBA: Detroit Pistons vs. Miami Heat Preview, Odds, Prediction

Detroit Pistons have a chance to use Miami Heat‘s fatigue and stop a negative streak. Though, that won’t be easy for the franchise from Michigan, because beating Miami in Florida is one hell of a task. Especially without Cade Cunningham, who is their best player. Miami lost in Memphis last night, which was the second time they couldn’t win in the past three games, somewhat spoiling their pretty nice run over the past two weeks.

Preview

Detroit Pistons (6-19, +285) have four losses in the last five games, with the only win coming at home against the Dallas Mavericks, 131-125, following an OT. Also, this is the first road game for the Pistons following a four-game homestand, which wasn’t very successful.

Cunningham’s absence is a massive blow for the Piston. The former top pick is by far the best player of the unit, and his stats back up that, 19.9 points with six boards and assists each. The 21-year-old gained routine, which slowly made him one of the best players in the league.

About the last game, which was a loss against the Grizzlies in Detroit, 122-112. Saddiq Bay had 24 points, with seven assists and six boards, but shooting 1-for-6 from deep. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 buckets, and the sharpshooter is already in trade talks, with Babo being a target of several teams.

Miami Heat (11-13, -365) had four wins in five games before last night’s loss to the Grizzlies in Tennessee. The result of that clash was 101-93 for Memphis. That was the fourth consecutive contest for the Heat on the road, and it was obvious that the fatigue had some impact on Miami.

Less than 24 hours later, Erik Spoelstra and his crew have to play another game and travel again. Even though the Heat play at home, the circumstances are against them. We all know the Heat are injury-prone, which only worsens things here. To be honest, if this team had a bit fewer injuries in the past, we could have seen them lifting the trophy.

Losing to the Grizzlies was mostly due to the poor contribution of the bench. Four players entered the game, only two scored, delivering 11 points in total. Now that’s a lousy impact. The starting lineup ended with a double-digit number of points, with Tyler Herro dropping the team-high 23 points, and he also had 13 boards, making him the best Heat player here. Jimmy Butler scored 18 buckets, eight assists, and six boards, Caleb Marcin 16, and Bam Adebayo one fewer.

Head to Head Games

Tonight’s event is the first meeting of the year between these two units. Last season we saw them clashing four times, and Miami won on three occasions, while Detroit had one victory, at home.

Prediction

Miami’s short rotation and fatigue are really a chance for the Pistons, but we won’t bet against them. The Heat is a serious team, and with the help of the home crowd (and the fact that the Pistons’ best player doesn’t have a place in Miami’s starting lineup), they will win tonight. Also, we go with Miami covering an 8.5-point handicap.

Pick: Miami -8.5