NBA Picks and Betting Tips: Detroit Pistons vs New York Knicks

As the Detroit Pistons have started their development process in a long rebuild that took over 4 years, this team with clear growth will take on a Knicks squad that has found its role after several offseason acquisitions. With New York having defeated a strong wildcard in the Miami Heat by 9 points, they take on a Pistons squad that created a 105-95 upset over an injured Philadelphia 76ers group. This game will occur on November 2nd at 4:30 A.M. in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Below are our vital injuries, betting tips, player props, and other important game facts to create an accurate prediction. 

Key Betting Tips & Predictions

1. Detroit Pistons vs New York Knicks Moneyline Pick

The Knicks moneyline is at -110 is a much more favorable option as they are going to win this game, but it will come down to the 4th quarter. Even though they added stars like Mikal Bridges and Karl Anthony-Towns to the roster, their biggest question will be how they can attack the Pistons big, Jalen Duren, with Ausar Thompson now injured. As Towns has had problems playing defense as a center, his extended minutes will make it harder and help two slasher like Jaden Ivey plus Cade Cunningham keep getting to the rim. But, the Knicks shooting will have too much firepower for this Pistons squad to handle, creating a victory for them even though they could out-manned in one area. This -110 moneyline is perfect because it doesn’t mean the Knicks win outright and dominate, but just have a higher percentage to end up with the larger scorer. 

2. Detroit Pistons vs New York Knicks Point Spread Pick

Looking at the Knicks's -8.5 spread, they will have a good advantage over the Pistons in this game but it won’t be as much of a blowout as people think. Even though Detroit is going to have to potentially start Tim Hardaway Jr. on defense, they could control Karl-Anthony Towns in the middle with Jalen Duren being a much bigger center. Seeing that and also Cade Cunningham’s improvement on defense, the +8.5 spread is a good one to take on Detroit’s side as they will make it a respectable game. This could potentially end the Knicks' streak of winning against the spread vs the Pistons. 

3. Detroit Pistons vs New York Knicks Over/Under Pick (Total Points)

The over/under for this game is over 225 points at 1.67. With the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons making much-needed improvements to work on long-range shooting this offseason, they added several pieces that would completely change that. As the Knicks have a pretty strong defense to control the Pistons, Detroit in their own right can stop New York to a little extent put not that much. As the last 3 games have gone well over 220 points, this is a trend that will be continuing and improving. 

Detroit Pistons vs New York Knicks Top Player Props

Jalen Duren at over 11.5 rebounds is 1.69: With Jalen Duren being one of the best rebounding centers in the league and averaging 9.2 through injury this season, he will finally get full minutes and show even more potential from last season. As someone who averaged 11.6 rebounds last year, he can dominate Karl Anthony-Towns in the paint and get a lot of defensive rebounds over him. With O.G. Annunoby trying to bring the help, Duren has shown great patience when getting doubled and sending it back out to Cunningham or Ivey. There is a very high chance that Duren could get a great number of rebounds in this game and have his way in the paint.

Jalen Brunson has over 33.5 points and assists at 1.9: As the Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson matchup will once again be something to watch, these point guards will create a shootout in their own right. Even though both are excellent on defense, Brunson has shown several ways to beat Cunningham to the hoop and even has made him pay by leaving him open for three through handles. Since Bridges will be covered by Ivey, Brunson knows he will have a one-on-one and score over his 22.8 points average. In addition, his passing ability will be key as the Knicks will attack the wings with Annunoby having the mismatch over Tobias Harris from the perimeter and Bridges continuously getting open as someone who can match Ivey’s speed. This will be a game to expect a huge stat line from Brunson. 

Detroit Pistons vs New York Knicks Injury News & Impact

Detroit Pistons Injuries: As the Pistons could once again be without Ausar Thompson, of illness, and condition injury, their forward will be a pretty big loss against a rebounding forward like OG Annunoby on the Knicks. His 8.8 points and 6.4 rebounds have been a huge part of their development which could be a massive deal since his athletic abilities allow him to be great on defense as well. Averaging 0.9 blocks and 1.1 steals, the Pistons could potentially lose out on one of their best inside defenders who also spends a lot of time on the perimeter. 

New York Knicks Injuries: Once again, the New York Knicks will be without their two key defensive centers Precious Achiwua and Mitchell Robinson. Having losses like that will allow Jalen Duren to score on a weaker defender like Karl-Anthony Towns with ease and there won’t be much rotation at that position. Although they get the offensive game to even higher levels than last year with Robinson starting, Kevin McCuallar is not going to be able to start as well because of his continuous knee injury. 

Head-to-Head Trends

As the Knicks have destroyed the Pistons in their head-to-head game, they have won 15 straight games and beaten them every single time since 2019. With most of these games being complete blowout victories, 5 of the 7 past matchups have had a score differential of over 8 points. With the Knicks being 5-0 against the spread during their previous 5 games, this should be a game where they could continue building on their 122.4-point average against Detroit in this period. 

Betting Insights & Public Trends

As we can see from public trends, 79.7% of the betters think the New York Knicks will defeat the Detroit Pistons. 

Final Prediction

With the Knicks entering this game after getting the biggest win over the season, they have seemed to find chemistry much earlier than expected. As they are going up against a much younger and inexperienced team in the Detroit Pistons, they should dominate this matchup even though it won’t end up being a complete blowout. As the point guard matchup between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson will be something very interesting to watch, both have been known for their phenomenal abilities to score plus playmake. Even though Jaden Ivey is playing at a higher level for the Pistons on offense this season, this will be a huge mismatch against Mikal Bridges as he is one of the Knicks best two-way players. His ability to shoot will cause Ivey to have to put his best effort on defense, but as a great passer too it will be tough time for the Pistons to handle with Ausar Thompson potential out. Having a replacement piece like Tim Hardaway Jr. would only really help with threes, but Josh Hart could keep switching with OG Annunoby giving New York a more consistent scorer against one of the Pistons weakest defenders. As Hart is known as someone who goes hard to the glass and gets a great number of rebounds, his intensity could help on the switch as he would get a much less elusive version of Tobias Harris to go against. Seeing this plus the fact that Annunoby can score on either of their guys or set screens for Karl Anthony-Towns to pull up from three, a lot of points will be scored in the paint. The Knicks main gameplan will be to avoid Jalen Duren and put Josh Hart next to him as New York’s most aggressive rebounder. But, if the Pistons Duren and Cunningham can create traps for Karl Anthony-Towns and Jalen Brunson, the other Pistons defenders will really only have to worry about Mikal Bridges scoring, making this game much closer. 

Our pick: The New York Knicks will win this game, but the Detroit Pistons will cover the 8.5 spread and total points will be over 225 points.