Houston Rockets vs Detroit Pistons Prediction, 12/18/2021 NBA Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Houston Rockets vs Detroit Pistons

Date: Saturday, December 18, 2021

Location: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI

TV: Bally Sports Detroit

The Detroit Pistons (4-22) will go up against the Houston Rockets (9-19) at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

The Rockets stepped onto the hardwood against the Cavaliers and went home with a loss by a final score of 124-89 in their last contest. In relation to fouls, the Rockets walked away with 21 while the Cavaliers totaled 15 fouls. They also made 18 out of their 40 shots from distance. Cleveland shot 66.7% when shooting free throws by knocking down 16 of their 24 tries. Furthermore, Cleveland totaled 35 rebounds (9 offensive, 26 defensive) and had 1 block. Cleveland recorded 44 assists and had 26 steals for the contest. With regard to defending, Houston let their opponent shoot 56.3% from the floor on 45 of 80 shooting. They also distributed 20 assists in the game in addition to forcing the other team into 5 turnovers and having 13 steals. When talking about getting rebounds, they earned a total of 41 with 10 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Rockets made 24 of their 35 attempts for a percentage of 68.6%. Houston wrapped up the contest having earned a 38.5% field goal percentage (30 of 78) and buried 5 out of their 29 3-point attempts.

Josh Christopher is a player who was a major factor in this contest. Christopher shot 45.5% from the field and distributed 4 assists. He was on the hardwood for 27 mins played and also pulled down 1 board. He recorded 17 points on 5 out of 11 shooting.

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Houston enters this contest with a win-loss record of 9-19 so far this season. They are losing possession via turnover 17.5 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 20.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Houston is snagging 44.2 boards per game and is sitting with 645 dimes on the campaign, which is 21st in the league in terms of passing the ball. The Rockets are shooting 34.0% on three-point attempts (360 of 1,058) and 70.1% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 106.2 pts per contest (19th in the league) while hitting 44.6% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Rockets are forcing their opponents into 14.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 22.4 fouls. They are conceding 33.5% on 3-point attempts and they are 28th in the league in PPG allowed (113.0). The Rockets defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 45.6% (1,142 of 2,505) and they concede 45.5 boards per game as a basketball team. They rank 8th in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 641 surrendered on the season.

When they last played, the Pistons took a loss by a final score of 116-104 against the Nets. The Pistons recorded 32 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 40 in this matchup. They turned it over 19 times, while getting 11 steals for the game. The Nets committed 17 personal fouls in this game which took the Pistons to the free throw line for 18 tries. They were able to make 12 of them for a percentage of 66.7%. When talking about shooting from beyond the arc, Detroit made 14 out of 37 tries (37.8%). At the conclusion of this game, the Pistons went 39 out of 92 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 42.4%. The Pistons permitted the Nets to bury 41 of 87 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 47.1% in the game. They finished 39.3% from downtown by connecting on 11 out of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 23 out of 25 from the free throw line (92.0%). When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, Detroit allowed Brooklyn to grab 35 in total (8 on the offensive glass).

Cade Cunningham ended up having an impact for the Pistons for this contest. He converted 9 out of 18 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and accumulated 8 rebounds. Cunningham earned 26 points in his 36 minutes on the hardwood and had 6 dimes for the game.

Detroit has a mark of 4-22 on the year. The Pistons have committed 19.9 fouls per contest and they connect on 78.7% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 21.4 times per contest (27th in the league) and they are turning it over 15.3 times per game. Detroit has earned 2,591 pts this season (99.7 per contest) and they collect 42.3 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Pistons are shooting 40.9% from the field, which has them ranked 30th in the NBA.

The Pistons on the defensive end are ranked 22nd in basketball in points per game surrendered with 109.4. They have forced 16.0 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 47.7% from the floor (30th in the league). The Detroit defense gives up 38.0% on 3-pointers (312 of 821) and opponents are converting on 77.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have relinquished 24.3 assists and 46.4 rebounds per contest, ranking them 18th and 25th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Houston

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