Detroit Pistons vs. Toronto Raptors Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Charlie Grant
Detroit head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy is losing his patience with his young team. The Pistons have dropped six of nine games since starting point guard Reggie Jackson went down with an injury including Monday’s home loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Raptors opened as 8.5-point home favourites with the total set at 213.5 on the Sports Interaction NBA odds board.
Toronto is 1-3 straight up in its last four games with losses against Miami, Golden State and, most recently, Philadelphia, and is 29-13 for the campaign.
The Raptors dropped to 24-18 against the spread after failing to cover as 1.5-point chalk at Philly on Monday night. The game produced the seventh over in Toronto’s last eight games and pushes the club’s season over/under record to 23-19.
The Pistons are slumping as well with just two wins in their last seven games and back-to-back ATS losses. Detroit is 22-20 SU and 23-17-2 ATS overall on the season.
The Dinos won and covered in three of their four meetings against Detroit a year ago.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons are a team in the mix for many potential trades before the Feb. 8 deadline if league rumours are to be believed. Detroit gets mentioned often as a landing spot for Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic with Pistons wing Stanley Johnson likely going the other way.
Big man Andre Drummond is the danger man for Van Gundy’s squad. The centre is averaging 14.4 points, 13.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists in five games this month.
Toronto Raptors
It may seem like meaningless, midseason games to some observers but not to Toronto Raptors stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Lowry was tossed along with Sixers rookie Ben Simmons with 6.5 seconds left in Monday’s matinee game. Lowry requested a meeting with the rookie in the hallway after the game that was left denied, smartly, by Simmons.
DeRozan, meanwhile, was fined $15,000 by the NBA for his critical comments of the officiating during the Raptors’ 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors last Saturday.
“It’s frustrating being out there feeling like you’re playing 5-on-8,” DeRozan told reporters after the game. “Some of those calls were terrible, period.”
