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Pistons vs. 76ers Odds
| Pistons Odds | +10.5 |
| 76ers Odds | -10.5 |
| Over/Under | 217.5 |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| TV | NBA League Pass |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute NBA odds here. | |
The Philadelphia 76ers look to bounce back at home and take advantage of the 0-3 Detroit Pistons on Thursday night after a lackluster performance against the New York Knicks.
The Pistons have shown little life to start off this season, picking up right where they left off last season — leaving much to be desired on both sides of the ball.
Entering this matchup, the 76ers are 6-0 against the spread in their past six games against the Pistons in Philadelphia. Will that cover streak continue for the Sixers? Let’s take a look at both sides and find out.
Injuries Driving Scoring Woes For Detroit
The Pistons so far look like they’ll be picking in the lottery again this season, starting off 0-3 straight up and ATS with some bad losses out of the gate.
A key reason for this poor start is the injury status of No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham who is listed as out once again; he won’t be the spark they need to turn things around just yet. Jerami Grant, who was in the running for the Most Improved Player award last season, is also listed as questionable after missing their previous game.
Pistons second-year small forward Saddiq Bey has done his best to fill in the gaps, leading the team with 18 points per game through three contests, but that’s certainly not who head coach Dwayne Casey was hoping would be leading his offensive attack entering the season. Unsurprisingly, the Pistons are dead last in the NBA when it comes to Offensive Rating, scoring just 91.0 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
The Pistons enter this game after back-to-back blowout losses and they haven’t been the type of team to turn in it around after a bad loss either. They are 0-7 ATS in their past seven games following a straight-up loss of more than 10 points.
The 76ers Offense Looks More Versatile Early
The Sixers’ loss at Madison Square Garden was in stark contrast compared to how well they played to start this season. The talk concerning this team is how would they recover after losing an all-star type caliber player in point guard Ben Simmons.
So far they have responded very well and proven themselves to be capable offensively despite their missing star point guard. The Sixers rank third in the NBA in Offensive Rating and are scoring 114 points per 100 possessions early in the season compared to last season where they ranked 13th and scored 112.5 per 100.
The early signs of Morey-ball are evident — the Sixers are top-five in field goal percentage on both corner 3s and shots in the restricted area. This is a new-look Sixers offense with Simmons out that is extremely proficient and balanced.
On the surface, you would expect that Joel Embiid has been the key to their early success but that’s not exactly the case so far. Tobias Harris is the key player who is picking up the slack. He’s averaging a team-leading 20 points and 5 assists while shooting 51.5% from the field.
We are catching the Sixers in a great spot. They are back home after their disappointing loss where they have been a dominant team. Last season the Sixers were 29-7 straight up at home and 18-13 ATS as home favorites, the sixth-most profitable team in that spot.
While Embiid’s health is always a question mark, having a day of rest between games and traveling the short distance from New York to Philadelphia should mean we see the big man on the floor (be sure to check FantasyLabs newsfeed for the latest injury info).
Pistons-76ers Pick
There are two phenomenal situational trends that line up perfectly for this matchup.
Over the past two seasons, the Pistons are 2-19-1 ATS on the road when facing Eastern conference teams who are coming off an ATS loss; the Pistons have lost five straight in that situation. Conversely, the Sixers are on a hot run of 9-3 ATS in their last 12 at home off a loss.
Given these team-oriented trends having such great recent success and how perfectly these teams are falling into these trends to start the season, I’m siding with the home team here. We should see a motivated Sixers team dominate the hobbled and poor-performing Pistons in Philly.
I like them to cover the double digits and would bet them up to -12.
Pick: Sixers -10.5 (-110)