Detroit Pistons Vs. Philadelphia 76ers: Predictions, Starting Lineups (12/15/23)

For the second time in three days, the Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers will take the floor against one another. See our Detroit Pistons vs. Philadelphia 76ers predictions, betting picks, and complete analysis below!

Detroit Pistons Vs. Philadelphia 76ers Prediction

Friday night’s game will mark the third time that the Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers have played this season. The Sixers won the first two matchups, both of which were in Detroit, with one coming by eight points and the other by 18 points.

Now, the Pistons travel to Philadelphia for the first time during their 2023-24 campaign. Can they keep this one competitive, or will Joel Embiid and the Sixers run away with another big win?

Don’t count on this game to be close, folks. There’s a monstrous 16-point spread for a reason, and as far as the spread is concerned, the Pistons have been morbidly poor (8-15-1.) On the other hand, Philly is 16-7 against the spread, proving that it consistently takes care of business for its betting backers.

A large portion of the Sixers’ consistency and effectiveness can be attributed to their starting lineup of Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, Nic Batum, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embiid, which ranks first in the NBA in net rating (+23.6!) this season amongst qualifying (100+ minutes played) units. That includes the star-studded Celtics starting lineup, too.

Meanwhile, Detroit has dropped 21 straight games (not a typo) and will be without Jalen Duren and Marvin Bagley III, two big men who could at least be physical bodies in the paint for the Pistons. Even with Duren in the lineup for over half of the team’s games (14 of 24), the Pistons have still allowed the sixth-most points to opposing centers. They are in serious trouble on the road against one of the best teams in the NBA and the leading MVP candidate, Joel Embiid.

These two teams just faced off against each other on Wednesday, and the Sixers won by 18 points behind a 41-point performance from Joel Embiid. That game was in Detroit, too.

Isaiah Stewart (6-foot-8) will once again draw the defensive assignment on Embiid (7-foot-1), and don’t be surprised if he gets into early foul trouble trying to match Embiid’s physicality. Detroit might have to lean on James Wiseman more than it would like to, especially for such a tough matchup.

Here’s the other rub: even if Detroit decides to throw double-teams at Embiid, his passing vision and accuracy have improved tremendously, meaning he can kick out to three-point shooters. The Sixers have many of those, and they hit a good portion of their three-point attempts as a team (37.7%), too. Detroit’s three-point defense has been trending in the wrong direction. It has allowed just shy of 40% shooting from deep to its last three opponents.

This is one of those matchups for the Pistons where you can’t feel good about backing them, no matter how many points you are getting. Let’s roll with Philly at home to get out to a big lead early and cruise from there.

Detroit Pistons Vs. Philadelphia 76ers Prediction: 76ers -15.5 (-110)

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Detroit Pistons Vs. Philadelphia 76ers Best Odds

Detroit enters this matchup against the Sixers in Philadelphia as 15.5-point road dogs. The Pistons have Moneyline odds of +800 to win their first game since October 28th, while Philadelphia is a heavy favorite at -1350. The Over/Under for this Eastern Conference matchup is at 235.5 points.

Detroit Pistons Starting Lineup

PG: Cade Cunningham
SG: Killian Hayes
SF: Bojan Bogdanovic
PF: Ausar Thompson
C: Isaiah Stewart

Philadelphia 76ers Starting Lineup

PG: Tyrese Maxey
SG: De’Anthony Melton
SF: Tobias Harris
PF: Nic Batum
C: Joel Embiid

Detroit Pistons Vs. Philadelphia 76ers Injuries

Detroit will be without several key contributors, including Marvin Bagley III (back), Jalen Duren (ankle), and Monte Morris (quad.) Meanwhile, the Sixers don’t have anyone listed on their injury report except for Terquavion Smith, who was sent to the team’s G-League affiliate for an undisclosed reason.