Detroit Pistons (19-24) vs. Miami Heat (21-21) When: 7 p.m. tonight. Where: Little Caesars Arena. TV: Fox Sports Detroit. Radio: 97.1 FM (Pistons radio affiliates). • Box score Game notes: The Pistons enter play 1½ games behind Charlotte for the eighth and final playoff spot. Miami is tied for sixth with Brooklyn. ... The Pistons face Miami for the first time since a Nov. 5 home loss in OT. This is the first game of a back-to-back for Detroit, as it welcomes Sacramento to LCA on Saturday night. ... This should be Dwyane Wade's last visit to Detroit, barring an unforeseen meeting in the postseason. Wade, who turned 36 on Thursday, is averaging 13.8 points and 3.9 assists in 25.3 minutes per game. ... Heat leading scorer Josh Richardson is out with the flu. More:Pistons 'feel whole' with Ish Smith, Zaza Pachulia healthy again More:Pistons sign Kalin Lucas, Isaiah Whitehead to add 'more talent' Twitter updates Live updates for mobile users. Download our Pistons Xtra app on iTunes or Android!<doc-sep>Game Vitals: When: January 18, 7 p.m. EST Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI Watch: Fox Sports Detroit, NBA League Pass Odds: Det -2.0 Projected Lineups: Detroit Pistons (19-24): Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown Jr., Reggie Bullock, Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond Miami Heat (21-21): Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson, Rodney McGruder, James Johnson, Hassan Whiteside Pregame Reading: No Josh Richardson tonight for Miami: No Josh Richardson tonight for Heat, due to illness. Wayne Ellington over his illness and available, per @DavidFurones_ Also, Tyler Johnson available after missing practice due to illness Thursday. — Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) January 18, 2019 DBB Preview, courtesy of yours truly. Inside the Cylinder goes inside all Dennis Smith Jr.-to-Detroit trade rumors. Tanking is not the answer to any of the questions the Pistons are asking themselves. The Pistons defense is trying very hard to give up as few threes as possible - are they trying too hard? Let’s have a good one tonight, y’all.<doc-sep>Pregame note of note: Forward Blake Griffin is the first Piston to record multiple 40-point games in the same season since Jerry Stackhouse had eight such games in 2000-01. Griffin scored a career-high 50 points vs. Philadelphia on Nov. 3 and 44 at the Clippers on Jan. 12. Griffin also is the first Pistons player to record a 50-point game and a 40-point game in the same season since Stackhouse in 2000-01.<doc-sep>The Detroit Pistons are a game and a half back from the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, a mere two and a half games back from the sixth seed, coming off a much-needed overtime win over a team they are scrapping with in the standings, and have the fifth-easiest schedule by opponent record for the rest of the season. The Detroit Pistons have the 5th easiest strength of schedule moving forward. Opponents combined winning percentage - .484 Toughest opponents- Bucks, Raptors (2×), Dubs, Pacers (2×) Easiest opponents- Cavs (2×), Bulls (2×), Knicks (2×) Per @tankathon — David Fernandez (@THE_FERNANTULA) January 17, 2019 The Detroit Pistons are also a full five games under .500, are coming off a road trip where they went 1-3, are 3-7 in their last 10 games, and have the league’s seventh-worst net rating (-2.7). Perspective is a funny thing, isn’t it? Game Vitals: When: January 18, 7 p.m. EST Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI Watch: Fox Sports Detroit, NBA League Pass Odds: Det -2.0 Analysis: The Miami Heat, now .500 and sixth in the East, have turned their season around thanks to their defense; Miami is up to eighth in the league in defensive rating (106.4) for the season, and fourth in the league in defensive rating over the last 15 games. I, too, am shocked that a team coached by Erik Spolestra that starts four athletic, long-limbed wings and a rim-protecting center has turned out to be good defensively. The other big story out of Miami has been the ascension of Justise Winslow. Winslow, now starting at point guard thanks to an injury to Goran Dragic, has responded to that assignment by averaging career-highs in usage rate, points, assists, three-point attempts and percentage, and true shooting percentage. Sure, that career-high true shooting percentage is still barely over 51 percent (also known as “Worse than Reggie Jackson’s”) but he’s still initiating better than most envisioned he would. Pistons fans might remember Winslow as the guy who gave Blake Griffin fits on the block the last time these two teams played: In fact, the Pistons overall generated 31 points on those 42 Griffin-vs-Winslow possessions, "good" for an offensive rating of 73.8. Winslow had his hands full -- Griffin is still a physical beast that's tough for people to deal with -- but Winslow more than held his own. — Nekias Duncan (@NekiasNBA) November 6, 2018 I doubt that Winslow will draw that assignment this game - cross-matching your point guard with the other team’s power forward is probably hell on transition defense - but it speaks to the breadth and depth of the Heat roster that their current starting point guard COULD guard power forwards if needed. (“Why don’t we do that with Stanley Johnson?? ?” Because Justise can dribble with his off-hand and Stanley can’t. Get outta here.) However, as you might’ve guessed from the whole “starting point guard Justise Winslow” thing, the Heat are not a great offensive team, ranking 22nd in the league in ORTG (106.5) - just ahead of the Pistons, whose offensive struggles we are intimately familiar with. Josh Richardson has cooled off from his “We shouldn’t have traded him for Jimmy Butler because he IS Jimmy Butler” start and is now slashing 40/37/86. 37-year-old Dwyane Wade comes off the bench and is third on the team in points-per-game. Their best three-point shooter, Wayne Ellington, has been left out of the rotation because Dion Waiters is back from injury. Dion Waiters is up to Dion Waiters things. Like all the teams in the middle third of the Eastern Conference, Miami has talent, and has flaws. Your Detroit Pistons are still re-integrating some of their talent. It is great to have Ish Smith back (or, I should say, it is great to not be compelled to play Jose Calderon), but he’s shooting 25 percent from the floor in the two games he’s played. It is great to have Zaza Pachilia back (or, I should say, it is great to not be compelled to play Jon Leuer at center), but he still only brings bone-crunching screens and adequate paint defense. The bench is better with those two guys playing, but questions about the rest of the roster still abound. To win tonight, the Pistons need Luke Kennard to be aggressive in looking for his shot with the bench unit, especially if he’s being guarded by Wade or Waiters. Luke came out shot-hunting Wednesday against Orlando, and it resulted in one of his better games this season: Luke’s too good to not always play like this, whether the shots are falling or not. Last but not least, Andre Drummond always seems to get up for his matchup with Hassan Whiteside, and the Pistons could use that energy and enthusiasm from Andre tonight (and every night). Projected Lineups: Detroit Pistons (19-24): Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown Jr., Reggie Bullock, Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond Miami Heat (21-21): Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder, James Johnson, Hassan Whiteside Prediction: Miami 106, Detroit 102<doc-sep>
Heat vs. Pistons Prediction Will the Detroit Pistons be able to defend their home court tonight when they take on the Miami Heat at 7PM ET? Game Snapshot & Odds 557 Miami Heat vs. 558 Detroit Pistons Friday, January 18, 2019 7PM ET – Little Caesars Arena Compare odds and from multiple different online sportsbooks and shop for the best lines at our new NBA Odds & Betting Page. Public Betting Trends According to oddsmakers at BetNow.eu, the Pistons are the slight favorite, as they are getting odds of -1.5 points against the Heat. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 207.5 points. The public betting for this game currently has 54 percent going on the Heat on the road. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our NBA Public Betting Page for updated figures on the game. Heat looking to avoid losing record Miami is coming off a 124-86 loss at Milwaukee earlier this week to fall to the .500 mark for the season. The Heat are 21-21 on the season, 10-9 on the road, 23-19 against the spread and 23-19 with the over. The Heat have been one of the top defensive teams in the NBA, allowing 106.1 points per game while holding opponents to 44 percent shooting. Offensively, Miami is putting up 106.2 points per game and shooting just 44 percent themselves. Already without Goran Dragic until February due to a knee injury, guard Tyler Johnson is questionable to play tonight with an illness. Josh Richardson is leading the team with 17.7 points per game while Hassan Whiteside is adding 12.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.42 blocks per contest. Pistons edge Orlando Detroit is coming off a 120-115 OT win over the Orlando Magic at home on Wednesday. The Pistons have covered the spread in three straight. Detroit is now 19-24 on the season, 12-10 at home, 20-22-1 against the spread and 23-20 with the under. The Pistons are an offense that are struggling this season. They scored 106.9 points per game while shooting a league-worst 33.1 percent from the arc and 43.5 percent form the field. Defensively, Detroit gives up 109.6 points per game. The Pistons do have the NBA’s top 3-point defense, as opponents make just 32.4 percent of the 3-point shots. Blake Griffin is leading the team with 25.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game while Andre Drummond is adding 16.7 points and 15.1 rebounds per contest. NBA Betting Trends Miami The Heat are 9-3 against the spread in their last 12 road games and 6-1 ATS in their last seven games playing on two days of rest. Detroit The Pistons are 2-5-1 against the spread in their last eight conference games and 6-16 in their last 22 games against Southeast Division opponents. Prediction: The Pistons have been a tough team to trust, but they are on a nice cover streak right now. Their losses at home have been largely against top-level players or teams. I don’t see Miami having either of those. The Heat don’t have a game-changing player and they are also an inconsistent team. I think Whiteside will struggle with the Drummond/Griffin combo and Detroit shoots a little better from the arc at home. I will take my chances on Detroit tonight. NBA Prediction: Detroit Pistons -1.5