Making Hay on the NBA – Pistons at Mavericks

BetOnline NBA Basketball Betting Odds: DALLAS -5.5, Total 188.5

Here are some of the NBA pro basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* DET has covered seven of its last ten games

* DET has won six of its last nine games SU

* DET has covered four of its last five road games

* DET has played 17 of its last 25 road games UNDER the total

* DALL has covered four of its last five games

* DALL has won 15 of its last 23 games SU

* DALL has covered six of its last seven home games

* DALL has won its last seven home games SU

* DALL has played its last five home games OVER the total

Also….

* DET has covered four of the last six meetings

* Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total

* DET has covered 10 of the last 14 meetings as the road team

* DALL has won five of the last seven meetings SU as the home team

* Four of the last six meetings in Dallas have gone OVER the total

* DALL has had the shooting edge in six of the last eight meetings

* DALL has made more three-pointers in three of the last four meetings

The Pistons are resting semi-comfortably in 7th place in the East, four games ahead of the Bucks and Bulls and a little further ahead of a whole slew of teams who are nipping at the heels of that bottom NBA playoff rung. Detroit is only a game behind Philadelphia and 2.5 games behind Miami, so it is possible, if they get hot here at the end, that they could avoid the top three teams in the conference in the opening playoff round.

Dallas is holding on to the 8th and final playoff spot in the West, but they are ahead of the Phoenix Suns by four full games, and could easily advance up a few rungs in the conference pecking order, since there is only three games separating themselves and the third-place Houston Rockets.

Dallas destroyed Detroit the last time these teams met, and at the Palace of Auburn Hills no less. The Mavs shot 55% overall, with Dirk Nowitzki hitting 12-for-20 and netting 26 points. What made it kind of perplexing was the fact that Detroit made 28 of 29 free throws, but the final was 112-91, meaning that the Pistons are feeling the need for a little payback.

Rasheed Wallace is out at the moment with a left calf strain, and Kwame Brown, once the #1 pick in the NBA draft, is taking his place. Brown hasn’t been much on the offensive end (3.2 ppg), but he did pull down 13 rebounds against his former Memphis Grizzlies teammates on Sunday, and grabbed five steals to boot.

Richard Hamilton has been ice cold, making just 14 of his 45 shots over the last two games. Allen Iverson is still out with a sore back, but Antonio McDyess has scored 56 points in his last three and hasn’t missed a free throw since February 22. All of this isn’t bad for the Pistons, but they are indeed short-handed, and Dallas has shown some mastery at the American Airlines Center, winning its last seven games, with the only non-cover in that time coming against Oklahoma City. Now they return home after a couple of road losses. Look for the maximum effort here, and for Dirk Nowitzki to improve on his 6-for-20 shooting against the Lakers on Sunday.

We’re going to lay the points with the Mavs, the 5.5-point favorite in the BetOnline NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: DALLAS -5.5 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)