NBA Free Premium Play 03/01: Detroit Pistons @ New Orleans Hornets

Detroit  at New Orleans

NBA - 815 Detroit Pistons @ 816 New Orleans Hornets Projected Line: pk line New Orleans won't be at their best tonight, as they will be without Anthony Davis, while Jason Smith is out for the season with a shoulder injury. After a good run, the Hornets are now back at losing in a systematic fashion and the main reason for that is their poor defense! They continue being a terrible transition defensive team and their perimeter defense has been even worse as of late. They are favored by four points against the Pistons tonight, who have been at a similar or even better level than them lately. On the last game played between these two teams, New Orleans went to Detroit to beat them by 105-86, in a very weird game that was a complete no-show for the home team. We know that the Hornets are a poor pick and roll defensive team, but Detroit was so poor in that game that they shot 0-7 FG on pick and roll ball handler plays and 3-9 FG and 0.64 PPP on pick and roll roll man plays! Will Bynum was supposed to have a great game against the Hornets due to a huge speed edge against the Hornets's guards, but he shot 0-8 FG in that game, while Greg Monroe shot 1-7 FT! It was a complete no-show for the Pistons, who would have lost big that night against any team in the league. I believe tonight's game will have nothing to do with the game played at Detroit. I'm sure that the Pistons's guards will have a much better performance tonight. Brandon Knight returned on the team's last game at Washington and he had his best game of the season so far with 11-18 FG and 32 points, while Jose Calderon led the team's offense very well with 18 assists! Besides a clear edge on pick and rolls, Detroit's good transition offensive will enjoy the fact that the Hornets are just #27 in the league on transition defense. The Pistons scored 27 fast break points on their last game against the Wizards and I'm sure that they will have another big game on this department tonight. This combination of factors make me believe that Detroit will have a clear edge over the awful New Orleans's defense tonight. On the other hand, with Anthony Davis out of tonight's game, New Orleans will be forced to insert Ryan Anderson in the starting lineup and with that, the Hornets lose their big offensive punch coming off the bench. This has nothing to do with the Pistons's second unit that has Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey. I expect a 50/50 game in here and so, I see a lot of value on the Pistons tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 815 Detroit Pistons (+3,5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker