The New York Knicks enter tonight's matchup against the Detroit Pistons as winners of four out of their last 10 games. It's been an up-and-down year for New York, failing to put together a nice winning streak, but not allowing itself to fall too far behind the other teams in the Eastern Conference.
On the other hand, Detroit is on par with its initial outlook on the season. Tonight is the third game between the two teams this season, with the last matchup resulting in a 121-112 victory for N.Y. With Jalen Brunson playing his best ball of the season, look for the Over to be in play again tonight.
Find out the best options in my free NBA betting picks and predictions for the Knicks vs. Pistons on Tuesday, November 29.
Knicks vs Pistons best odds
Knicks vs Pistons picks and predictions
With every game that passes, it's becoming more apparent that Jalen Brunson is the best player on the Knicks. The 26-year-old point guard is settling into a groove with New York offensively. The Pistons should be worried about what that means for their outlook in this game.
When the Knicks and Pistons faced off back in late October and even to a degree earlier this month, Brunson was still downloading himself into the new system. Since then? He's become the face of the system.
Brunson will likely have another massive outing. In the latest matchup against Detroit, he couldn't be contained — scoring 26 points and dishing out seven assists while shooting 50% from the field. It was clear Brunson took advantage of a Pistons team that was (and remains) without their top option in Cade Cunningham.
Most recently, Brunson has been on a remarkable run, scoring over 30 points in three straight games. With Cunningham still out of the lineup, that leaves former lottery pick Killian Hayes, to match up with the Knicks' star. Detroit's starting backcourt for this game — Hayes and Jaden Ivey — both rank Bottom 4 in defensive rating on the Pistons.
New York is in a rare territory with Brunson, as it hasn't had a point guard who can consistently produce on a nightly basis in a long time. Brunson is getting better, with a season average of 21.8 points on 48% shooting, and I like him to score over 22.5 tonight.
My best bet: Jalen Brunson Over 22.5 points (-118 at FanDuel)
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Knicks vs Pistons spread analysis
The spread initially opened at -4 and has since risen to -4.5 and -5 across all sportsbooks. The spread here tells no lies, as the Knicks are just a better basketball team to date. While Detroit isn't a terrible team when concentrating on its 11-9-2 against the spread record, it has failed to meet the spread in each of the two battles with New York this season.
Mostly, these two teams are in similar situations when they met on the previous two occasions. The Knicks are still an up-and-down team, mostly winning the games they are projected to and losing the ones nobody expects them to win. Similarly, the Pistons have been a team with shallow expectations this season, as their success is mostly tied to the development of franchise cornerstones Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.
On the season, New York is 5-0 ATS when it surrenders 109.1 or fewer points in a game. Coincidentally, the Pistons currently average 109.1 points per game. Combine that with the Knicks currently being ranked Top 12 in scoring per game (114.6), and the Pistons' Bottom 6 in the league in opponents points per game (116.7), and the Knicks should muster up enough on the road to cover tonight.
While New York surrenders slightly more points per game to opponents, Detroit's offense has struggled to date, and likely won't capitalize enough to cover the spread.
Knicks vs Pistons Over/Under analysis
The Over/Under is currently set at 226.5 for the game tonight. Since the line opened, there has been some movement, as the original Over/Under was set at 224.5. The Knicks have played to an 11-9 O/U record this year while Detroit's at 12-9-1.
The Over is an appealing play here. Whenever two teams that are Bottom 10 in the entire NBA in opponents' points per game collide, the Over has to be in strong consideration. The Knicks and Pistons blew past the total in their first meeting by 15.5 points and comfortably hit it again by 8.5 earlier this month. Why should this time be any different? If anything, we could see more combined points for these two teams with Brunson hitting his stride than in the previous matchups.
Knicks vs Pistons betting trend to know
The Over is 4-0 in the Knicks' last 4 games vs. a team with a winning percentage below .400. Find more NBA betting trends for Knicks vs. Pistons.
Knicks vs Pistons game info
| Location: | Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI |
| Date: | Tuesday, November 29, 2022 |
| Tip-off: | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| TV: | Bally Sports Detroit, MSG |
