Detroit Pistons vs Houston Rockets Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 12/01/2024, 06:38  by Joseph King | Modified on 12/01/2024 at 06:48 in NBA Predictions

The lowly 15th-place Detroit Pistons play host to the Western Conference’s ninth-place Houston Rockets on Friday. Detroit continue to falter as they have now lost 32 of their 35 games in the 2023/24 campaign. Their last appearance was a 130-108 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, marking their sixth straight loss. After snapping their historic losing streak at the end of December, Detroit fans would have hoped their team could have pressed on but that clearly hasn’t been the case. The Pistons have lost by an average margin of -13.8 points per game during their current six game losing streak. Unsurprisingly, the hosts rank 30th out of 30 teams in the NBA with a -11.7 average scoring margin and rank dead-last in adjusted net rating (-9.6). To make matters even worse, Detroit will be without face of the franchise Cade Cunningham who has missed the last two straight games with a knee injury.

Houston have certainly improved over the team that lost 60 games last season. Ime Udoka has done an excellent job at implementing a hard-nosed defensive attitude which has resulted in the Rockets being ranked second with only 110.6 points allowed per game. They’ll have to snap a two-game losing streak here if they are to remain above .500 on the year as they sit 18-18 following a 124-119 loss to the Bulls. The story of the Rockets season so far has been their phenomenal play at the Toyota Center in Houston. However, they haven’t been able to carry over those same types of performance when they take to the road. The Rockets are 15-6 on home soil yet just 3-12 on the road. Their last two defeats have both been as the visiting team.