The 50-19 Pistons will host the 33-36 Warriors tonight at 7:30 PM EST. The Pistons have not yet submitted their injury report. The Warriors have listed Quinten Post as Questionable. They’ll be without Stephen Curry, Seth Curry, Al Horford, and Moses Moody.
The Pistons are 4.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook with the total for this game set at 229.5 points.
Detroit Pistons vs. Golden State Warriors prediction, preview
Golden State still has enough structure to be annoying, but their ceiling just isn’t the same without Stephen Curry. The Warriors come into Detroit at 33-36, 10th in the West, 14-21 on the road, and they’ve lost eight of their last 10, including a 120-99 loss in Boston on Wednesday. Since Curry went down with a knee injury in the first meeting with Detroit on January 30, Golden State is just 6-13. Steve Kerr said after the Celtics loss that the bigger issue right now is the defense slipping and missing details. Their season-long numbers are still respectable: they’re scoring 115.0 PPG, allowing 114.5, and sit near the middle on defense with 113.5 DEFRTG. But this version of the Warriors is living on thinner margins, especially away from home, where the offense has less shot-creation gravity and the possession game matters more. They’ll need Steph back, and soon, to make a push for the play in tournament. One bright spot for this team in their last 21 games has been Gui Santos, who’s averaging 15.4 points on 52.5% shooting with 1.4 SPG.
Detroit will also be missing their best player in Cade Cunningham, who will be out at least two weeks because of a collapsed lung. Even without Cunningham, they look like the sturdier team. They’re 50-19, first in the East, 26-8 at home, and just got their first 50-win season since 2007-08 after beating Washington again on Thursday. This is not a fake good team built only on superstar creation, either. Detroit is scoring 117.4 PPG while allowing just 109.7, owns the league’s second best DEFRTG at 109, and keeps finding ways to generate clean team offense, ranking at 27.1 assists per game. The frontcourt is a major stress point here. Jalen Duren is averaging 22.2 PPG over his last 10 and just dropped 24 points and 11 rebounds Thursday. Isaiah Stewart also remains out at least a week, which trims some of Detroit’s frontcourt depth but hasn’t stopped them from dominating inside lately. Ausar Thompson’s activity on the wing adds another layer, and that blend of rim pressure, rebounding, and defense is what has made Detroit so difficult to dislodge all season.
Detroit Pistons vs. Golden State Warriors pick, best bet
Best Bet: DET Pistons -4.5 (-118)
The Pistons will try to hold it steady in Cunningham’s absence. The Warriors have gone just 2-8 in their last 10 and are falling apart quickly, and even though they’re desperate to claw out some wins in their schedule during the Steph-less games, they’re likely to fall short of dethroning the best team in the East tonight.
