Pistons vs Knicks Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

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30 November 2023

Pistons vs Knicks Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

The Knicks aren't often a 13-point favorite but the Pistons have lost 15 straight games and are a team Jalen Brunson & Co. should be able to handle with ease. We break it all down in our NBA betting picks below.

The Detroit Pistons are teetering on the edge. Not of relevance this season mind you, that ship has already long sailed. They’re hanging on by a thread to their relevance as a franchise, getting booed out of their own barn regularly, and are staring down some historic infamy if they can’t get a win soon.

Unfortunately, the NBA odds are against them on Thursday, November 30. The New York Knicks have been one of the more reliable teams this season, and they’ve taken care of business consistently against the NBA’s bottom feeders.

Our free NBA picks for Pistons vs. Knicks believe New York’s strong identity and Jalen Brunson’s leadership should see them cover against Detroit.

Pistons vs Knicks odds

Pistons vs Knicks predictions

Since Sam Hinkie instituted “The Process” in Philadelphia, multi-season tanking efforts have become an accepted practice in the modern NBA, but just because you can tilt the lottery odds in your favor, doesn’t mean that it comes without risk.

The Detroit Pistons are what it looks like when a rebuild goes wrong. It almost boggles the mind, but the Pistons have only won four games since last year’s trade deadline. They’re now on a 15-game losing streak after dropping what felt like a mere formality to the Lakers last night.

Cade Cunningham hasn’t shown the growth of a No. 1 overall pick, and whether that’s because the roster around him has made it impossible for him to shine or if he just isn’t that level of talent is currently an open question.

The trades and additions that general manager Troy Weaver has made and not made make it clear he's trying to get this team to win, but he’s simply done a terrible job of identifying the right pieces and making the right moves.

A losing mentality has clearly crept into the organization, and self-belief is nowhere to be found. That makes it nearly impossible for them to rally when they get down early and makes them easy prey for the New York Knicks.

Jalen Brunson could gun for 40 every night, but he’s one of the NBA’s stars who truly prioritizes winning above everything.

Brunson might not be a traditional point guard in the John Stockton mold, but one thing is abundantly clear: he has a captain’s mentality. He is happy to sacrifice and defer in order to get the other Knicks going on offense.

Brunson is also the main reason I believe in the Knicks' consistency. New York teams in the past, even in the Tom Thibodeau era, would be liable to screw around for three quarters against a team down as bad as Detroit before relying on their superior talent to carry out a narrow fourth-quarter win.

Not these Knicks. When it came down to the final day of the In-Season Tournament and the Knicks needed to run up the score on the Hornets to advance, they dutifully did just that — winning by 24 points and punching their ticket to the quarterfinals.

The Knicks have an established ecosystem on both ends. Mitchell Robinson gobbles up every shot at the rim and every rebound everywhere while RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Quentin Grimes lock down the perimeter. Brunson and Julius Randle carry the scoring load, and every role player finds a way to contribute.

The Pistons are still pulling guys in and out of the lineup and have not found success on either end.

The Knicks are 10th in offense and sixth in defense by comparison. While their record isn’t all that impressive, they’ve faced one of the more grueling schedules in the league so far.

Their +5.5 point differential is seventh best in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass, and puts them ahead of some of the NBA’s top contenders including the Nuggets, Suns, and Bucks.

With the Pistons crumbling and on the second night of a back-to-back, I think the Knicks cover even this substantial line.

My best bet: Knicks -13 (-104 at Pinnacle)

Pistons vs Knicks same-game parlay

Knicks -13.5

Julius Randle Over 95. rebounds

Pistons team total Under 100.5

Last year, the Knicks earned a trip to the playoffs as the No. 5 seed on the back of an elite offense. This season, their offense is still a work in progress, though they’ve made great strides after a slow start.

Instead, it's their defense that's taken center stage, which is why for today’s same-game parlay, I’m pairing a Knicks cover with an Under on the Pistons team total of 100.5. I’m also taking a Julius Randle rebounding prop to round out the trio.

The Knicks' defense starts and stops with Robinson. He’s always been an incredible talent with a knack for the offensive glass, but this year, he's grown into one of the most terrifying and consistent deterrents around the rim.

His impact is Rudy Gobert-like, in that his block numbers can’t demonstrate his value because many players simply avoid attacking the rim at all when he's on the floor. The Pistons are a team without almost any reliable 3-point shooting, so I’m expecting their offense to flatline against the Knicks.

Randle is coming off a 25-point, 20-rebound game against the Hornets, and he’s averaging 10.2 rebounds per game on the season. He's such a physical force that when he’s engaged, he’s one of the better rebounders in the game.

It can be a struggle for Julius when things don't go his way, but in a game I expect to be non-competitive after the first half, I have little worry about that here.

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Pistons vs Knicks spread and Over/Under analysis

Thursday marks yet another double-digit spread for the Pistons, as the Knicks opened at 12.5-point favorites, a number that has since risen to -13.5 at most sportsbooks. Despite the Pistons getting sizeable lines throughout this current 15-game skid, they’ve consistently found ways to underperform even their pitiful expectations.

The Pistons are 7-11 against the spread this season, and they’ve also underperformed the spread by the most points of any team over the last two weeks. Per Cleaning the Glass, they’ve had a -11 point-spread differential in that span, meaning they’ve been almost double digits worse than expected on average despite being deep in this losing streak.

The Knicks are not a contending team, but they are a damn good one. And they’ve taken care of business against below .500 teams this season. They're 8-3 ATS when they come into a game as the favorite.

The total for Thursday’s contest opened at a modest 220.5, and that has already fallen to 218.5. The Pistons own the league’s 25th-ranked defense, but the 30th-ranked offense over the last two weeks.

While players like Ausar Thompson and Killian Hayes add value in other areas, the impact they have on Detroit’s spacing is nothing short of catastrophic.

The Knicks are a team that defends the paint at all costs and rebounds the ball extremely well, both things that make me inclined to believe that Detroit will struggle to put together any real offensive punch in this one.

I do worry the Knicks could simply roll over the Pistons if they don’t show fight early, so I'd be hesitant about picking the Over. The Over has gone 6-3 in the Piston’s last nine road games, and that isn’t because Detroit was shooting the lights out.