Pistons vs. Warriors Updated Odds, Pick, Prediction: Back Steph Curry & Co. to Cruise (January 18)

Pistons vs. Warriors Odds

The Detroit Pistons begin a four-game road trip out West on Tuesday when they travel to California to take on the Golden State Warriors.

Golden State and Detroit have been having completely opposite seasons, with one contending for the NBA title and the other heading toward the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft.

The Pistons have been bad regardless of where they are playing, but this team has been particularly poor on the road this season. Will they be able to reverse that trend or will they fall victim to a dominate Golden State squad?

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons have played poor basketball all season, culminating in a 10-32 record and being in 14th place in the Eastern Conference.

However, this is a team that has won three of their last five games and done it without some key players in Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk, both of whom have been out for more than a month and will still be sidelined for this matchup.

Their recent success from Detroit, led by Cade Cunningham's stat line of 17.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his last five games, has been quite promising, but this team hasn’t had much to hang their hats on this season.

Even with some solid scoring options, the Pistons have been one of the league’s worst offensive units. According to NBA Advanced Stats, Detroit has the worst Offensive Rating in the NBA, scoring just 101.6 points per 100 possessions, and finds itself with the worst field-goal percentage (41.7%) and three-point percentage (31.3%) overall.

The defense hasn't been much better, often leading to some large deficits that are nearly impossible to overcome.

For the season, Detroit has a Defensive Rating of 111.4, which is 23rd in the NBA, but that number has increased to 117.8 in its last seven games. The Pistons have surrendered an average of 117.2 points in their last seven outings, with their opponents scoring above 115 points in five of those seven games. They will need to tighten things up on that end of the floor if they want to remain competitive against a great scoring team in Golden State.

Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry missed the Warriors' most recent game against Minnesota with a hand injury, but it appears that he will be ready to suit up for this contest.

That is great news for Golden State, which will have one of the best scorers in the NBA returning to the mix to lead one of the top offensive units in the league.

Golden State has been remarkably efficient on the offensive end of the floor and Curry is a huge reason why. The Warriors rank inside the top 10 in both field-goal percentage and three-point percentage, plus they’re scoring 110.5 points per 100 possessions this season.

Curry has also gotten significant help from Andrew Wiggins, who has posted shooting splits of 48.8% from the floor and 42.2% from behind the arc this season. Jordan Poole, and now Klay Thompson, showcasing this team’s depth and ability to attack opponents from just about anywhere.

The defense has been exceptional as well, entering this matchup with a Defensive Rating of 102.6, which leads the league. As a result, Golden State has the No. 1 net rating this season, another example as to how well this team has played all year.

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Pistons-Warriors Pick

Draymond Green is going to miss this game as he nurses a calf injury, but I don't think his absence is going to affect the outcome of this game too much.

The Pistons are simply too vulnerable on the defensive end of the floor, and that has continued to be the case within the last week or so, as they surrendered 135 points to the Suns and 133 to the Bulls.

In addition, Detroit is just 3-18 overall and 9-12 against the spread on the road, while averaging 100.2 points per game. I think Golden State will pick apart this defense and build a significant lead on the way to an easy victory.

Pick: Golden State -14.5 (-110)