NBA Betting: Pistons must bounce back fast

Basketball / Nick Shiambouros / 27 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Two humiliating defeats amidst bizarre coaching decisions and booing means the Detroit Pistons are suddenly on the ropes. So where did it all go wrong? And will they recover in time to make the play-offs? Nick Shiambouros is Stateside with the answers...

What on earth has happened to the Detroit Pistons? This is the question everyone is asking after they suffered two humiliating defeats at home in the space of two days.

On Friday night the Dallas Mavericks crushed them 112-91 as Dirk Nowitski and co ran over this Piston team with consummate ease. The German center was allowed to saunter in to the paint and score at will. But that was not the end of it.

On Sunday afternoon the Houston Rockets came to town and beat them 108-105. The score does not tell the story because Detroit gave up an unbelievable 39 points in the first quarter. Ron Artest was allowed to run rampant as he rained down three point shots from the perimiter. At one point, Pistons looked like they could give up 150 points in this terrible display. Fans started to show their disgust about 10 minutes in to the game by booing loudly.

What was even more amazing was that Alan Iverson was benched by coach Michael Curry at the start of the fourth quarter. Iverson joined Detroit earlier this year in a trade which sent Chauncey Billups to Denver. Benching Iverson was bizarre as he was playing quite well at the time. We have not heard the last of this story.

Losing two games at home is not in itself surprising but it is the manner of the defeat which is alarming. Detroit is famous for having one of the toughest defenses in the NBA and to give up points like they have is totally unacceptable. The loss of Billups has hurt them enormously and Rasheed Wallace is not pulling his weight in the rotation.

Detroit has a pretty big line up which is clearly not working and Rip Hamilton who was in the starting line up is now the sixth man in the rotation. When he was put in the game by Curry they started to play better but they still looked out of focus.

The Detroit Pistons are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and will no doubt stumble in to the play-offs. There appears to be no easy solution to their problems as they have traded one of the best defensive players around and Denis Rodman is not coming out of retirement to bail them out.

Looking ahead, the schedule over the next ten games sees Detroit play Boston, Cleveland and San Antonio . They have to face a refocused Boston on Friday followed on Superbowl Sunday by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nothing would give LeBron James more pleasure than beating the Pistons in their house on such a big day.

The Detroit Pistons are currently [85.0] to win the NBA championship and have been matched at a low of [8.2]. At this moment this price probably reflects the chances of coach Michael Curry being with the Pistons next year.

Recommended wagers: Lay the Detroit Pistons with the handicap over the next 10 games