NBA odds, betting preview (Nov. 15): Pistons vs. Raptors predictions

With a nightmarish season-long five-game road trip in the rearview mirror, the Toronto Raptors will now return home to Scotiabank Arena on Friday to host the Detroit Pistons.

Toronto went 0-5 on the trip (2-3 against the spread), most recently dropping a 99-85 contest to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday in the team’s NBA Cup opener.

Detroit is coming off a 127-120 overtime loss to those same Bucks on Wednesday. The Pistons have alternated between wins and losses over their last six games, but they appear much more improved this season after last year’s disastrous 14-68 campaign.

Let’s take a look at the game odds for Friday’s In-Season Tournament game between the Pistons and Raptors:

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Betting Detroit Pistons (5-8 SU, 7-5-1 ATS, 5-8 o/u)

The Pistons couldn’t stop Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday night, allowing the Bucks superstar to go off for 59 points in Milwaukee’s overtime win. Luckily for the Pistons, they won’t have to deal with the same kind of star power on Friday against the shorthanded Raptors.

With the help of some new faces, like Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley, and Tobias Harris, the Pistons appear to no longer be the laughing stock of the league, ranking in the middle of the pack in most offensive and defensive statistical categories. They do stand out a bit in the rebounding department, ranking sixth in the league with an average of 46.5 per game, and their 113.5 defensive rating ranks 12th.

This will be the second game of the In-Season Tournament for the Pistons, who claimed a 123-121 win over the Miami Heat earlier this week to sit second in the East Group B standings behind Milwaukee.

Like the Raptors, Detroit has also been dealing with multiple injuries to key players early this season, but we’ll touch more on that below.

Betting Toronto Raptors (2-10 SU, 8-4 ATS, 7-5 o/u)

The Raptors will surely be happy to return home after a dreadful road trip, but things won’t get any easier, as Friday will mark the start of a back-to-back set that will end Saturday in Boston.

Gradey Dick has set a new career high in scoring in a third of the games he’s played this season (four of 12), including a 32-point outburst Tuesday against Milwaukee. He went to the line 16 times and buried four shots from long range. Dick also leads all NBA sophomores in scoring (20.1 points per game).

Although the Raptors held the Bucks under 100 points on Tuesday, they still rank 28th in the NBA in defensive rating (119.9) and 27th in turnovers (16.2 per game).

Pistons vs Raptors injuries

F Scottie Barnes (eye), F Kelly Olynyk (back), G Immanuel Quickley (elbow), F Bruce Brown (knee), and G Ja’Kobe Walter (shoulder) are all out for the Raptors.

F Ausar Thompson (conditioning) won’t play for Detroit, while F Simone Fontecchio (toe) and F Tim Hardaway Jr. (head) are doubtful. G Jaden Ivey (toe) is questionable.

Pistons vs. Raptors betting trends

• The Pistons are 8-2 ATS in the past 10 meetings.
• The over is 5-0 in Toronto’s five home games this season.
• The under is 5-1 in Detroit’s six road games this season.
• Toronto is 4-1 ATS in its five home games this season.

Pistons vs. Raptors player prop trends

• With all of the injuries, the Raptors have relied heavily on RJ Barrett as their primary offensive option, and he hasn’t responded well recently, averaging just 15.4 points over his last five games. Caesars has the best odds (-109) on him to score under 21.5 points on Friday.
• Cade Cunningham has recorded nine or more assists in six straight games, averaging 10.5 per game during that span. Bet99 has the best odds (-145) on him to record over 8.5 assists. He’s also been getting it done on the glass, hauling in seven or more rebounds in six straight games. Pinnacle has the best odds (+126) on him to record over 6.5 assists.
• Ochai Agbaji has been consistently beating his line of over 1.5 three-pointers, accomplishing the feat in six straight contests, averaging 2.3 per game during that span. PointsBet has the best odds (+125) on him to record over 1.5 threes.

Pistons vs Raptors best bets

• Pistons moneyline: -114 @ NorthStar Bets. The Raptors opened as high as 2.5-point favourites at some online sportsbooks, but the betting action was so one-sided on the Pistons that line has now swung all the way to Detroit -2 at some books as of Friday morning. If you jumped on the Pistons early, you could’ve snagged odds around +120 on the moneyline, but there’s still value on backing Detroit at -114 in this spot against the hobbled Raptors, especially if Jaden Ivey (averaging 18.6 points per game) is good to go. The Pistons are 2-3 in their last five games, but one of those losses came in overtime and the other two were by two points or less.
• Ochai Agbaji over 1.5 threes made: +125 @ PointsBet. Agbaji should draw the start once again for the depleted Raptors and continue to get his looks from long range. He’s averaged 4.9 three-point attempts per game and is shooting 50% from beyond the arc this month. Detroit has allowed the opposition to shoot 35.9% from long range for an average of 13.2 three-pointers made per game, which ranks it slightly below league average in both categories.

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