Stones Look to Rebound
The Central Division-leading Detroit Pistons are looking to rebound from their worst performance of the season. A home date with the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night might be exactly what they need.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Detroit –9.5 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 181 total points (Matchup). Our public betting information shows that 53% of bets for this game have been placed on Detroit –9.5 (View NBA Bet Percentages).
The Pistons (28-10), whose 13-3 home record ranks second in the Eastern Conference behind Boston (16-2), have defeated the Raptors (20-17) eight consecutive times at the Palace of Auburn Hills since April 2, 2003. The eight victories have come by an average margin of 11.2 points.
Detroit also took the first of four meetings this season with the Raptors, a 101-85 victory on Jan. 4 at Toronto.
The Pistons closed out a four-game road trip with an embarrassing 89-65 loss at last-place New York on Sunday, during which they shot an abysmal 30.7 percent (23 of 75) from the field – nearly 17 percent below their season average.
"I just got off the shower, washed it off," said Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups, who had 14 points. "I washed it right off on that shower. Got to forget about that one. That was bad.
"We couldn’t hit a shot and couldn’t stop them from hitting shots and that’s a deadly combination. I don’t know if it was tired. I don’t think it was any of that. We couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean tonight."
Richard Hamilton, who shot 1-for-7 and was held to a season-low three points against the Knicks, had 22 points in the last matchup against Toronto. The shooting guard leads Detroit with 18.1 points per game overall this season.
He could use better support from small forward Tayshaun Prince, who missed all 10 of his shots and went scoreless Sunday after going 10-for-17 from the floor and totaling 22 points in a 103-100 overtime win at Charlotte the previous night.
Led by a surging Chris Bosh, the Raptors are looking to match their longest winning streak of the season, a four-game run from Dec. 9-14.
Bosh, Toronto’s leader with 21.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, had 38 points and 14 rebounds to engineer a 116-109 double-overtime win over Portland on Sunday. Two nights earlier he scored 40 points and grabbed 11 boards in a 99-90 win at New York.
"He’s had the saddle on the last couple of games and we’ve been riding him," said Raptors swingman Anthony Parker, who had 25 points Sunday.
Bosh is averaging 29.0 points and 9.0 rebounds over the last six games, including 23 points and 15 rebounds against Detroit on Jan. 4.
The big man didn’t get much help in that contest from Parker, who made 2 of 11 shots and finished with seven points. Parker has been stellar in the four games since, though, averaging 20.0 points.
Toronto’s Jose Calderon, who had a season-high 22 points Sunday, has also been hot of late. He’s averaging 15.3 points and 9.9 assists over the last seven games, including a 15-point, nine-assist effort against the Pistons.
By: Marc Young – theSpread.com – Email Us
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