Cleveland Cavaliers vs Detroit Pistons Prediction, 12/26/2020 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Detroit Pistons

Date: Saturday, December 26, 2020

Location: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI

TV: Fox Sports Detroit

Odds/Point Spread: Cleveland (+3)

Little Caesars Arena is the site where and the Detroit Pistons (20-46 last year) will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers (19-46 last season) on Saturday. Cleveland opens this matchup as 3-point underdogs. The total is set at 220.

The Cleveland Cavaliers stepped onto the hardwood against the Charlotte Hornets and notched a win by a score of 121-114 in their last game. Cleveland walked away from the game having earned a 52.9% FG percentage (46 out of 87) and buried 14 of their 30 shots from beyond the perimeter. When they shot from the free throw line, the Cavaliers converted 15 of 20 shots for a rate of 75.0%. When discussing pulling down rebounds, they earned 50 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 34 dimes in this matchup as well as earning 12 steals and 3 blocked shots. In the matter of defense, Cleveland allowed the other team to go 50.0% from the floor on 45 of 90 shooting. Charlotte recorded 29 dimes and had 10 steals in this contest. Moreover, the Hornets grabbed 32 rebounds (8 offensive, 24 defensive) and got 4 blocked shots. Charlotte finished the game shooting 53.3% from the charity stripe by knocking down 8 of 15 attempts. They made 16 out of their 44 attempts from 3-point range.

Collin Sexton is a guy who was a major contributor for the game. He ended up walking away with 27 points on 9 out of 16 shooting. He was on the court for 37:05 mins and also totaled 2 rebounds. Sexton shot 56.3% from the field and earned 5 assists. One more player that was a contributor in this matchup for the Cavaliers was Larry Nance. He pulled down 13 rebounds and also totaled 8 assists. He finished 55.6% from the field for the matchup by connecting on 5-of-9 (13 points). Overall, Nance played for 33:34 min.

Cleveland will enter this game after finishing with a record of 19-46 last year. They coughed up possession 16.5 times per contest and as a group committed 18.3 fouls per contest. As a basketball team, Cleveland snagged 44.2 boards per contest and earned 1,500 assists last season, which ranked 29th in the league in terms of passing the ball. The Cavaliers shot 35.1% on shots from distance (727 of 2,070) and 75.8% from the charity stripe. They averaged 106.9 points per game (26th in basketball) on 45.8% from the floor. When they were on the defensive end, the Cavaliers forced 13.0 turnovers every game while drawing 19.6 fouls. They relinquished 37.5% on three-point shots and they were 22nd in the league in PPG from their opponents (114.8). The Cavaliers defense gave up a field goal percentage of 49.1% (2,851 of 5,811) and they conceded 42.9 boards per contest as a team. They were 14th in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 1,699 conceded throughout last year.

When they last played, the Detroit Pistons took a loss by a final score of 111-101 when they faced the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Pistons were able to collect 37 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 for this contest. They also turned away 2 shots while getting 5 steals in this matchup. The Timberwolves committed 16 fouls in the game which got the Pistons to the charity stripe for a total of 8 tries. They were able to bury 3 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 37.5%. In the matter of shots from beyond the arc, Detroit converted 8 of their 35 attempts (22.9%). Overall, the Pistons went 45 out of 93 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.4%. The Pistons allowed the Timberwolves to convert 38 out of their 88 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 43.2% in the game. They went 26.8% from three-point range by hitting 11 of 41 and ended up shooting 24 out of 28 from the free throw line (85.7%). When talking about cleaning up the glass, Detroit permitted Minnesota to get 48 in all (12 on the offensive glass).

Blake Griffin pitched in for the Pistons in the matchup. He converted 6 of 13 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 46.2%, which gave him 15 points. Griffin snagged 7 rebounds in his 35:00 mins of time on the court and accumulated 2 assists for this game. An additional guy that was important for Detroit was Mason Plumlee. He accumulated 14 points in his 32:12 minutes on the hardwood via 7 out of 8 from the floor in the game. Plumlee ended up shooting 87.5% from the field as well as totaling 6 assists and 8 boards.

Detroit had a mark of 20-46 last season. On the offensive side of the court, the Pistons shot 45.9% from the field, which was ranked 18th in the NBA. Detroit accumulated 7,078 points over the course of last season (107.2 per contest) and they grabbed 41.7 boards per game. They dished out assists 24.1 times per game (16th in basketball) and they coughed up possession 15.3 times per game. The Pistons committed 19.7 personal fouls every game and they connected on 74.3% from the free throw line. The Pistons on the defensive end were ranked 15th in basketball in points per game surrendered with 110.8. They forced 14.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and allowed teams to shoot 48.0% from the floor (28th in basketball). The Detroit defense gave up 36.1% on shots from behind the 3-point line (705 of 1,952) and their opponents connected on 77.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrendered 24.6 assists and 43.5 total rebounds per game, which was ranked 16th and 8th in the league.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Cleveland (+3)

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