NBA Basketball
2012-04-19 - Minnesota T-Wolves at Detroit Pistons
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Thursday 19 April 2012 - Tip Off 7:30pm ET
12:30am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Detroit Pistons (23-39) complete one of the final back to back to back schedules tonight in this lockout shortened season as they take on the slumping Minnesota Timberwolves (25-38) who have lost 11 games in a row to end their Play Off hopes and are going to be short-handed tonight.
Minnesota looked good to make the Play Offs behind the stellar play of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, but things began to go wrong when the rookie Point Guard was lost for the season, while Love is also absent with concussion symptoms.
Luke Ridnour is also missing for the Timberwolves that are currently 'enjoying' their longest losing run since ending last season with 15 straight losses. Even worse for the fans, they have yet to win a game in April, the last time that happening over 3 years ago.
Detroit have enjoyed two polar opposite performances in their last two games, blowing out Cleveland on Tuesday before having the same thing happen to them yesterday at the Atlanta Hawks. It was a very disappointing performance last night in Atlanta, although they will look to bounce back at home with the ambitions of finishing this season strong and take positive vibes into the off-season.
Tayshaun Prince was rested last night and looks set to return to the rotation, while Rodney Stuckey was limited to 20 minutes in a game that was out of hand by half time.
Greg Monroe also continues to play at a high level for the Pistons, averaging 16.6 points per game over his last 5 and he is averaging 13 points and 12.7 rebounds in his 3 games against the Timberwolves.
Head to Head
Minnesota won the only meeting between the teams earlier this season at home, although Detroit covered the spread in that loss.
The Timberwolves have actually won 3 in a row in the series, including both last season.
They have split their last 4 meetings at the Palace of Auburn Hills, both straight up and against the spread.
Detroit are 17-12-1 against the spread at home this season, Minnesota are 17-14-1 on the road.
Detroit are 8-5 against the spread as the favourite, Minnesota are 25-16 as the underdog.
Other Interesting Trends
Detroit are 7-2 against the spread in their last 9 games as the favourite.
They are 11-5 against the spread in their last 16 games against a team with a losing record on the road.
Minnesota are 3-10 against the spread in their last 13 games overall.
They are 2-8 against the spread in their last 10 games against teams from the Eastern Conference.
Prediction
I am going to back the Detroit Pistons to win this game and cover the spread against the slumping Minnesota Timberwolves for the following reasons:
First, Minnesota are in a horrible vein of form and they are short-handed with little motivation as they play out the season.
Second, the Timberwolves are 1-6 against the spread in games against teams with losing records over the second half of the season.
Third, Detroit have taken some heavy blowouts in the last couple of weeks against the best teams in the NBA, but they still have a decent 24-15 record against the spread in the second half of the season as they try to play hard.
The Pick :
Detroit Pistons 103-96 Minnesota T-Wolves
