Pistons No Match For Magic
February 16th, 2010 | 
Author: The Detroit Pistons have taken a big dive from the ranks of being an NBA and Eastern Conference contender. As they continue their post All-Star break stretch, they’ll have to travel on the road to face a team that has become the best in the East.
The Magic are the reigning Eastern Conference Champs and they don’t expect to have many problems with the Pistons, who have seemingly lost their quality roster and team identity. The Pistons have made a couple of recent changes to their roster in the last year or so, such as firing head coach Flip Saunders and trading away Chauncey Billups, that has left the Pistons with a very mixed bag of a roster.
The good news for Detroit is that they are finally healthy, but they aren’t exactly a cohesive group. They have a lot of duplication, with players like Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum, and Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton, but they don’t have a lot of leadership or toughness anymore.
Meanwhile, the Magic are far more complete and won’t have many problems dealing with the Pistons. At best, the Pistons are looking at a cover but not a win.
Detroit Pistons @ Orlando Magic
Bodog Odds (Bodog Reviews): Magic -11
The Pistons will be on the second of back-to-back games, which means fatigue might be a factor for them. If that doesn’t tire them out, the Magic’s defense should.
Scoring 100 points has been a trek for the Pistons this season as they haven’t topped the mark in regulation over their last 28 games.
The Magic are the league’s seventh-best defensive team, allowing just 95.9 per game. Meanwhile, Detroit ranks 29th in scoring offense while averaging just 91.7 per game. If you’re looking for some more stats to indicate that this will be a one-sided matchup, just look at the home-road statistics of both teams.
The Magic are 20-5 at home while the Pistons are 6-18 on the road. The Magic don’t lose often at home but they are coming off a home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which left a fairly bitter taste in their mouth.
Expect Orlando to be very focused on rebounding from that loss. Sports handicapping experts should expect this game to play out exactly how it looks, which will be a very easy Orlando win.
NBA Betting Odds Pick: Magic -11
Related Posts:
Leave a Reply
Loading ...