NBA Betting Preview: Detroit Pistons vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Game 2 Odds

The Detroit Pistons did just about everything right in Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers except win it, falling just short in a 106-101 road loss. The Pistons covered the spread as 11-point underdogs and will be double-digit dogs again Wednesday in Game 2.

Sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark have the Cavs listed as consensus 10-point favorites for Wednesday despite failing to cover each of the past three meetings in the series.

In fact, Cleveland has not beaten Detroit by double digits since a 109-97 victory on April 23, 2015. The Cavs were eight-point home favorites in that game and have gone 2-3 straight up and 1-4 against the spread in the past five meetings, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database.

After winning the regular-season series 3-1, the Pistons jumped out to a 58-53 halftime lead in Game 1 before Cleveland tightened up the defense and relied on its Big Three of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.

The trio combined for 81 points, 24 rebounds and 18 assists to outgun a fairly balanced Detroit team, which was paced by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 21 points. Four starters scored in double figures for the Pistons overall, and the bench outscored the Cavs by a 21-14 margin.

Stanley Johnson was put on James defensively and helped hold him to 22 points, although the NBA’s best overall player still dished out 11 assists.

Detroit head coach Stan Van Gundy was critical of the officiating, calling out the referees for the way they handle James. Van Gundy was subsequently fined $25,000 by the league, so it will be interesting to see if James is even more aggressive offensively in Game 2.

Surprisingly, James has not gone to the free-throw line more than five times in the last six games he has played dating back to the regular season.

The Pistons will likely try to push the tempo again and make Cleveland play defense since that has worked well for them lately. The over is 5-1 in the past six meetings on the NBA betting lines after going under in five of the previous six, with the Cavs winning five of those games.