Tuesday NBA: Pistons (33-32) at Mavericks (40-27)
The Detroit Pistons have a unique stat in their favor: They are one of just two non-division leaders to have a winning road record this season.
So does that mean they have a chance to pull an upset of the Mavericks in Dallas on Tuesday night? The Mavs are 5.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
Well, not if the first game counts as anything. In late January, Dallas scored 63 points in the first half and crushed Detroit 112-91. And the Pistons are coming off a home loss to a terrible Memphis team.
But Dallas, which is trying to hang on to the No. 8 spot in the West, has lost its last two games. And both teams will be severely shorthanded tonight. The Pistons will be without guard Allen Iverson (sore back) and center Rasheed Wallace (strained left calf), while Dallas will be missing swingmen Devean George (right knee), Josh Howard (sore left ankle) and Jerry Stackhouse (plantar fasciitis).
Detroit isn’t expected to have either Iverson or Wallace on Wednesday in Houston, either. A.I. will be re-evaluated later this week, while Wallace, who has missed the team’s last two games, still isn’t able to run on his injured leg.
“I won’t say he is out for the Texas swing, but I doubt it,” Detroit coach Michael Curry said.
Rip Hamilton, who was coming off the bench when the Mavericks played Detroit in January, has regained his form as a starter, scoring 20-plus in 10 of 11 games and dishing out a career-best 16 assists last week against Toronto.
The Mavs have been outrebounded by nine in the past two games, a big reason they lost both. James Singleton has been a nice surprise starting for George with double-doubles in each of the last two games.
Dallas has won seven straight games at home. Dallas has outscored its opponents by an average of 12.9 points during its current run at home, but it only played one team with a record better than .500 over that stretch — San Antonio on March 4.
WagerWeb.com Head-to-Head Trends
* Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
* Home team is 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
NBA Betting at WagerWeb.com
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