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Pistons, Clippers seek important win Saturday
By: Brian Graham - StatFox
Published: 11/14/2015  at  4:47:00 AM
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DETROIT PISTONS (5-3)

at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (5-4)

Tip-off: Saturday, 3:35 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -3.5, Total: 201

Two slumping teams try to get back in the win column on Saturday afternoon when the Pistons continue their long road trip versus the Clippers.

Detroit (5-3 ATS) has two games remaining on its six-game road trip that started off with two straight high-scoring wins (110.0 PPG) followed by the offense going south (93.5 PPG) in two straight defeats. Los Angeles (3-6 ATS) opened its season with four wins in a row, but is only 1-4 SU over the past five contests, including two straight losses where the club allowed 118 points each time. The Clippers have dominated this series for most of the decade with eight straight victories (5-3 ATS) including a 113-91 blowout when these teams last met on Dec. 15, 2014 in Staples Center. But dating back to 1996, the Pistons hold the 10-8 SU advantage (8-7 ATS) as the road team in this matchup. There are good reasons to wager on either side for Saturday's game, as Detroit is 11-1 ATS when facing a team with a win pct. of 51% to 60% under Stan Van Gundy, and 17-6 ATS in the past two seasons after a 1-2 SU stretch. But L.A.'s Doc Rivers is 43-22 ATS when coming off a division loss in his coaching career, and his Saturday opponent is only 10-22 ATS in road games since 2013-14 where the total is 200 to 209.5. While the Pistons have no new injuries, the Clippers will likely be without superstar PG Chris Paul (groin, doubtful), but the shoulder injury suffered by C DeAndre Jordan in the last game should not keep him off the court on Saturday.

Which team will snap its losing skid on Saturday afternoon? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2015-16 season. StatFox Zach got the season off to a flying start with a 5-0 Best Bets record in the first week, and StatFox Gary had a strong second week with a 4-1 Best Bets record.

Detroit's offense has produced only 98.1 PPG on poor shooting clips of 42.1% FG and 31.8% threes. The team shot only 38.2% FG in Wednesday's loss, marking the fourth time this season that it has finished below 40% FG. This offense is handled mostly by four players who are all averaging 15+ points. PG Reggie Jackson (21.9 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.3 RPG 1.1 SPG) is the leading scorer, but is shooting only 43.2% FG for the season. This includes a 12-for-34 clip (35%) with eight turnovers and eight assists during the two-game losing skid. But with PG Chris Paul, one of the better defenders in the league, doubtful to play, Jackson should have an easier time getting to the rim and boosting those percentages. C Andre Drummond (18.8 PPG on 53.3% FG) has been a beast on the glass with an NBA-high 19.3 RPG, which is 6.7 RPG more than any other NBA player. Drummond's 7.1 offensive RPG is 2.3 more per game than anyone in the league. The other two big scorers are PF Marcus Morris (16.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG) and SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (14.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.4 SPG). Morris has scored at least 11 points in all eight games while Caldwell-Pope has netted at least a dozen points in all five games this month. Defensively, Detroit holds teams to 96.7 PPG on 45.6% FG and 36.4% threes but has allowed 104.3 PPG on 50.2% FG over the past three contests. That's not a good trend for a team about to face one of the more explosive offenses in the league.

Los Angeles has pumped in 105.6 PPG on 46.4% FG this season, but has been terrible from long range (30.5% threes) and from the charity stripe (69.8% FT). The team has not shot even 45% from the floor in three straight games and continues to be way off the mark in Staples Center where it makes only 25% of three-point tries. With PG Chris Paul (15.7 PPG, 8.0 APG, 1.3 SPG) likely not playing, the point-guard position will be handled by either Austin Rivers (8.7 PPG, 1.1 APG) or 38-year-old Pablo Prigioni (1.5 PPG, 1.5 APG). Prigioni started in place of Paul during Thursday's loss, but contributed only six points (2-of-6 FG), three assists and two turnovers in his 23 minutes of action. No starter on the Clippers scored even a dozen points against the Suns, but top scorer PF Blake Griffin (25.8 PPG, 9.1 RPG) logged only 16 minutes before being ejected in the second quarter after picking up his second technical foul. Griffin will need to stay on the floor for all four quarters to get his team back in the win column. C DeAndre Jordan (10.1 PPG, 12.6 RPG, 3.2 BPG) will be tasked with keeping Andre Drummond off the glass, and this will be an important one-on-one matchup. The Clippers defense allows a robust 105.1 PPG on 44.1% FG and 34.1% threes, but these numbers are much better at Staples Center (98.8 PPG, 40.5% FG, 25.2% threes).


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