Washington Wizards Vs. Detroit Pistons: Predictions, Starting Lineups (1/27/24)
Two seemingly cursed Eastern Conference franchises face off on Saturday afternoon in a battle of the bottom-dwellers. See our Washington Wizards vs. Detroit Pistons predictions, game preview, and favorite betting picks below to add some excitement to this otherwise mundane matchup!
Washington Wizards Vs. Detroit Pistons Prediction
No one expected the Washington Wizards to be a competitive team this season. If you don’t believe me, look no further than the win total lines that the sportsbooks dropped in the preseason.
However, the Wizards are nowhere near competitive. They have dropped 12 of their past 13 games, holding the fourth-worst net rating (-9.1) and losing by an average of nearly ten points in that stretch. The Wizards even dropped one of those games to the Pistons by 12 points at home.
Meanwhile, after an eight-game absence, Cade Cunningham is finally expected to return to the Detroit Pistons starting lineup on Saturday morning (or afternoon, depending on where you are located).
Ironically, Detroit’s winning percentage this season is higher without Cunningham (25%) than with him (8.3%), which is head-scratching; however, we will not read into it any further than that. At least, not yet.
The Pistons were finally able to log their fifth win of the 2023-24 campaign earlier this week when they knocked off the Terry Rozier-less Charlotte Hornets by seven points on their home floor. Can they string together a second consecutive win against Washington?
The type of teams that Washington (first in pace) can occasionally “throw off” are teams that play a slower brand of basketball. Luckily, the Pistons rank sixth in pace this season and have no issues playing up-tempo.
Further, we like the matchups on an individual level. The Wizards allow the most points and rebounds to opposing centers, giving Jalen Duren an open path to a massive day offensively and on the glass. With Cunningham back in the equation, look for Detroit to lean on the pick-and-roll.
Between Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, and Jaden Ivey, the Pistons have enough slashers to get into the paint and either finish, dump off or lob to Duren, or kick out to Bojan Bogdanovic and Isaiah Stewart at the three-point line.
Washington allows the most shots inside of five feet in the NBA and the third-highest percentage on those shots. A struggling three-point shooting team in Detroit (25th in the NBA in 3P%) will find solace in the paint, where it actually has a lot of success (eighth in the NBA in points in the paint.)
Washington Wizards Vs. Detroit Pistons Prediction: Pistons ML (-137)
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Washington Wizards Vs. Detroit Pistons Best Odds
Despite being just a five-win team through over half of the 2023-24 campaign, the Detroit Pistons are 2.5-point home favorites against the Washington Wizards on Saturday. Detroit holds Moneyline odds of -142 to simply win outright instead of being forced to cover a spread, while the Wizards are +120 road dogs to log their fifth road win this season. The point total for this Eastern Conference matchup is 243.5 points, indicating a back-and-forth, high-scoring affair.
Washington Wizards Starting Lineup
PG: Tyus Jones
SG: Jordan Poole
SF: Deni Avdija
PF: Kyle Kuzma
C: Daniel Gafford
Detroit Pistons Starting Lineup
PG: Cade Cunningham
SG: Jaden Ivey
SF: Bojan Bogdanovic
PF: Isaiah Stewart
C: Jalen Duren
Washington Wizards Vs. Detroit Pistons Injuries
With star point guard Cade Cunningham now listed as probable for this game, the Detroit Pistons currently don’t have any rotation players listed on the injury report. Washington is in a similar position, as Isaiah Livers (hip) is the only player with a questionable designation ahead of this bout. Neither team has any players who will be sidelined for certain.
