Today on the NBA, we will see the Detroit Pistons travel to take on the Philadelphia 76ers in an exciting contest. The game is scheduled for an 7:00 pm start time and it will be televised live on FS Detroit (Detroit) and CSN (Philadelphia). Currently the odds for the game have the Sixers favored by 8 points, while the totals line is set at 186 points. Opening lines had the Sixers favored by 7 points, while the totals line was set at 188 points.
Game Analysis: Coach Doug Collins was surely very mad with his team's defensive performance against Milwaukee, as the Bucks scored 60 points on the first half! The game was an incredible fast pace with a huge number of turnovers! Milwaukee committed 23 turnovers and still scored 105 points! Philadelphia also committed 15 turnovers and most of them led to points, as Milwaukee scored 21 points off turnovers and 28 fast break points, while shooting 12-19 on transition plays with 1.27 PPP! On the other hand, Philadelphia scored 29 points off turnovers and 24 fast break points with 9-14 FG on transition plays with 1.37 PPP! That's why this game has a pace of 99! As Milwaukee lacked big men capable of offering danger to the Sixers at the offensive end, they opted to use a small lineup, while coach Doug Collins also decided to use a small lineup against the undersized lineup of the Bucks, with Jrue Holliday, Nick Young, Jason Richardson, Dorrell Wright and Thaddeus Young at the center position! The problem for Philadelphia is that Milwaukee was super sharp from the outside with 12-24 FG from 16-23 feet and 7-20 3pts (started with 8-8 3pts)! Philadelphia eventually had a better defensive job on the second half, but their offense failed on the 4th quarter.
For this game, I expect Philadelphia to comeback to their traditional game plan and set a slow pace on this contest, in order to avoid turnovers, even though Jrue Holliday has been very turnover prone this season, but this will be Doug Collins' idea for tonight. The Sixers went 9-3 Under on the following game after losing and the game going Over the total posted exactly because of that. The Sixers won't use a small lineup tonight, as Detroit have Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond on the frontcourt. The Pistons have been very inconsistent on offense and very dependent from Greg Monroe. Even though Philadelphia is still without Andrew Bynum, they are a top defensive team in protecting the basket and that's what Collins' defensive scheme is built around. This is why Philadelphia is #1 on the league in points in the paint allowed with 34.0 ppg! Detroit will be without Rodney Stuckey tonight due to illness, who had his best game of the season against the Thunder on the team's last game. With Brandon Knight still being very hesitant on offense, Detroit will be once again inconsistent on perimeter, allowing Philadelphia to put extra focus on Greg Monroe on their defensive moves in order to shutdown the Pistons offense.
Therefore, I expect Philadelphia to have a defensive bounce back tonight by setting a slow pace on tonight's game and shutting down the lowly Pistons offense. Therefore, I will be taking the Under in here.
Free Pick: Take the Under 186 (Single Dime Play)
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