The 2020-21 NBA season has officially reached the dog days. The playoffs are just over a month away. With the condensed schedule, lots of teams are already deciding to rest players for different reasons. Some are trying to stay as healthy as possible for the postseason, while others may be keeping their better players off the court in an attempt to tank for draft picks.
Moneyline Betting Odds: Detroit Pistons at Denver Nuggets
- Detroit Pistons (+650)
- Denver Nuggets (-900)
Spread Betting Odds: Detroit Pistons at Denver Nuggets
- Detroit Pistons +12 (-110)
- Denver Nuggets -12(-110)
Over/Under Betting Odds: Detroit Pistons at Denver Nuggets
- Over 214.5 (-110)
- Under 214.5 (-110)
Think what you will about tanking, but that’s the reality. Tuesday’s NBA schedule features eight games, including an interesting matchup between the Pistons and Nuggets in Denver. These two teams have very different motivations as of now. Detroit is counting down the days between now and the draft, while the Nuggets are eyeing another deep playoff run.
The Pistons picked up a win in Oklahoma City last night, while the Nuggets last played on Sunday night. As you may expect in a game featuring a couple of teams like this, we’ve got a sizable spread here provided by the top NBA betting sites. The Nuggets are favored by 12 points in a game with an over/under of 214 points.
Open Tryout For Pistons
With the playoffs far out of reach at this point, the Pistons are using the latter stages of the season to get a look at some of their younger players. Dwane Casey has been running an incredibly deep rotation over the past few games, which makes it seem as though the Pistons are just holding early tryouts ahead of next season. Last night in Oklahoma City, 11 different players logged at least 10 minutes of action.
It’s worth noting that the Pistons could have even more players in the mix tonight. Mason Plumlee and Wayne Ellington both sat out of last night’s game to rest, but both are due back tonight. No player played more than 25 minutes last night, either, which likely doesn’t help the Pistons’ chances of actually winning games moving forward. Plumlee and Jerami Grant have both played well all year, but Casey is no longe relying on either of them to shoulder a heavy workload.
Killian Hayes dimes are back pic.twitter.com/ZAjzBgKzqb
— James Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) April 4, 2021
Instead, Detroit is allowing younger players like Hamidou Diallo, Killian Hayes, Sekou Doumbouya, Tyler Cook, and Saben Lee to play bigger roles. That’s likely a good thing for the Pistons’ hopes of developing some of them into useful rotation players in the future, but we can expect this team to do an awful lot of losing between now and the end of the campaign.
The Pistons come into this game at just 15-35 on the year, and playing the second night of a back-to-back at altitude in Denver is no easy task. Detroit is 27-22-1 against the spread so far this season, but they did most of their damage earlier in the year.
Big Goals For Nuggets
The Nuggets acquired Aaron Gordon and JaVale McGee ahead of the trade deadline with the sole purpose of trying to contend for a championship. Denver advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals a season ago, and there is reason to believe this year’s team could go even further. With Nikola Jokic in the midst of an MVP-caliber season, the sky is the limit for Denver.
Jokic has done most of the hard work for this team all year, but they have finally gotten him some help. The 26-year-old big man has put up staggering numbers, including averages of 26.3 points, 11 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game. If he’s able to lead the Nuggets into the top-four of the Western Conference at the season’s end, perhaps an MVP trophy could be in his future.
Killian Hayes dimes are back pic.twitter.com/ZAjzBgKzqb
— James Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) April 4, 2021
Denver added Gordon in an attempt to fortify the starting unit around Jokic on both ends of the floor. Gordon has become one of the game’s premier on-ball defenders over the years, and he has finally developed into a quality long-range weapon, as well. Gordon is connecting on a career-high 37.2 percent of his attempts from three-point territory so far this season.
Denver had to overcome an early deficit on Sunday against the Magic, but the Nuggets are still undefeated since Gordon arrived. The team comes into tonight’s game riding a five-game winning streak, and they have impressively held all four of their opponents to 109 points or less since Gordon made his debut.
What’s the Best Bet?
Frankly, I have no idea how this game stays remotely competitive tonight. It wouldn’t be too surprising if the Pistons wound up resting a few more guys tonight on the second half of the back-to-back. Grant and Plumlee may find some extra motivation returning to Denver to face their former club tonight, but it certainly won’t be enough to carry the Pistons across the finish line.
Pick: Nuggets -12
Odds: -110
$100 Could Win You…$190
With the Nuggets having a clean injury report and no shortage of motivation, I’m expecting Denver to wipe the floor with the lowly Pistons in this one. Detroit will have absolutely no answer for Jokic, while Jamal Murray may have a field day against an inexperienced Pistons backcourt. The fatigue factor is also in play for Detroit, which is why the Nuggets look like a solid bet to cover the 12-point margin here. If you’re looking to continue with NBA betting then you should check out our Bucks at Warriors prediction for some additional value tonight.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
