Tonight we will be looking at a match Between Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz, at Little Caesars Arena, where Pistons hold an 11-8 record this season.
Detroit Pistons are currently 9th in the East with the overall record of 17-19. Looking at their last 5 games, Pistons are 2-3; losing to Indiana Pacers (125:88), Orlando Magic (109:107) and Milwaukee Bucks (121:98), while they managed to defeat Washington Wizards (106:95) and Memphis Grizzlies (94:101). At home, Detroit is holding the same record (2-3). All in all, Pistons have been struggling in the past month, winning only 4 games out of 10 played, however, they have managed to win in their last match against Memphis Grizzlies (94:101). Looking at that match, Pistons were behind by 4 points by the end of the 2nd quarter, however, they managed to grab back the lead by the end of the 3rd, mostly due to their good defensive work, which held Grizzlies at only 17.6 FG%. Well… to be fair Pistons were not impressed with their shots either, as they scored only 34.8% of their attempts, but it was enough to get into the lead nonetheless. The last quarter was in Pistons favour once again, as they were leading by up to 14 points, however, they finished 7 points in front of Grizzlies. A 14 or 7 points win is still a win and a much-needed one for Pistons who are not in the best form at the moment. Finals score: 94:101.
Utah Jazz is currently 10th in the West, with an overall record of 19-20. In their last 5 games, they are 3-2. Utah lost to 76ers (97:114) and Toronto Raptors (122:116), while they won against Portland Trail Blazers (117:96), NY Knicks (129:97) and most recently against Cleveland Cavaliers (91:117). Against Cavaliers, Utah started off slow, as they were behind by 1 point by the end of the 2nd quarter, but they woke up in the 3rd quarter, grabbing the lead and not letting it go for the remainder of the match. In the 3rd quarter, Jazz outscored Cavaliers by 11 points (22:33), to which they added another impressive 4th quarter where they outscored Cavaliers by additional 16 points. With an impressive performance in the last 2 quarters, Jazz managed to finish the match with a 26 point lead. Final score: 91:117.
This will be the first time these two teams met each other this season. The last time Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons met was on 14th of March 2018, when it was Jazz who celebrated a high win (110:79). For the upcoming match Pistons will be without Ellenson, Pachulia and Smith, while Jazz will miss Allen. Looking at Jazz away games, they have won only 2 in the last 8. Coming into this match, they have had 4 away games in the last 7, which means a lot of travelling and ultimately players get fatigued. Nonetheless, Jazz is still an impressive defensive team (ranked 5th in defensive efficiency in the league). On average Utah allows opponents score only 105.7 ppg which makes them the 6th best in the league when it comes to defending their basket. Tonight they will go against the Pistons, who were not impressive in the offensive end. Pistons are 24th most efficient team in offence and they are expected to struggle against Utah Jazz tonight. As for our prediction, we believe Pistons could go on and win, as Utah is fatigued from their recent matches and to be fair, they were not playing as good as they would have wanted. As mentioned, Pistons won’t have an easy time but a win here would not come as a surprise for me.
Prediction: Detroit Pistons +3.00 points
Odds: 2.06 Pinnacle
