Pistons vs. Hawks Odds

The Atlanta Hawks look to continue their strong start against a Detroit Pistons team seeking its first win of the season.

While these teams have enjoyed opposite starts to the new season, can the Pistons get going in the right direction on Monday night?

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Detroit Pistons

The Pistons have opened the season both 0-2 straight-up (SU) and against the spread (ATS). Much of this is due to their 29th-ranked offensive rating (entering Sunday’s slate of games) of 97.3 through two games, per NBA.com. It certainly won’t get any easier for Detroit without Blake Griffin (injury management) and Derrick Rose (rest) on Monday night, while Jahlil Okafor is listed as questionable due to an ankle injury.

Detroit has had an abysmal start to the season shooting the ball, ranking 25th in eFG% (50.5%), per Cleaning the Glass. However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Over the Pistons’ two games, they have a 55% location eFG% (if this team shot league average from each location, what their eFG% would be).

But with these injuries, the Pistons will be looking even further down the depth chart for some offensive help. Griffin, Rose and Okafor have combined for 41.5 points per game this year, nearly 38% of the Pistons’ nightly output so far. I’d expect higher usage rates for both forward Sekou Doumbouya and rookie point guard Killian Hayes, but Detroit will suffer from a lack of playmaking and ball handling without Rose off the bench.

Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks enter this game nursing a few injuries. They will be without forward Tony Snell (foot), and guard Kris Dunn (ankle). Atlanta also lists both center Clint Capela (probable, ankle) and forward Danilo Gallinari (questionable, foot) on the injury report. Keep an eye on their status using our FantasyLabs Insider Tool.

Atlanta has cruised through its first two games 2-0 SU and ATS. The Hawks entered play on Sunday ranked fourth in Net Rating, according to NBA.com. But they have shot into a bit of good luck. Atlanta started Sunday with the No. 8 eFG% (57.7%) in the league to just the 15th location eFG% (53.9%) this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

The Hawks have done this despite the newly acquired Bogdan Bogdanovic struggling to find his shooting groove (23.5% 3-point percentage) and Capela yet to appear in a game since he was added from the Rockets.

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Pistons-Hawks Pick

This matchup comes down to personnel. The Pistons had one of the most head-scratching offseasons in recent memory when they signed almost an entire roster full of forwards  and centers (Knicks fans understand this pain) while seemingly ignoring the guard position outside of drafting Hayes and signing shooting guard Delon Wright.

In this game, Detroit will be missing one of their primary ball handlers in Rose. This Pistons’ offense is already struggling, and trusting an entire game to a rookie who is averaging just 20 minutes per game and 2.5 assists (Hayes) will be quite the task.

On the other side, the Hawks look likely to have Capela active and have been led by strong production from Trae Young (36.5/4.5/8.0). I don’t expect the Pistons to be able to slow down Young in this matchup, and he should lead this Hawks team to a 3-0 start.

Ordinarily, I would not want to lay nine points in this matchup but with the Pistons limited backcourt, and the Hawks’ hot start, I expect Atlanta to cover in this game.

Additionally, I have a lean on the under (225) because I expect Detroit to struggle offensively without Rose and Griffin.

The Pick: Hawks -9