NBA Picks & Predictions: Cavaliers vs. Pistons (Tuesday)
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has a pair of second-round playoff series kicking off on Tuesday night. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons meet in Game 1 at Little Caesars Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Peacock, while the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder square off in Game 1 at Paycom Center on NBC and Peacock in the later window. Let’s build our bankroll with our best NBA picks & predictions for Tuesday, May 5th’s game Cavaliers vs. Pistons.
Go premium to view top prop bets based on Cover Probability, Expected Value & Star Rating >>
Tuesday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions: Cavaliers vs. Pistons
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
Cleveland Cavaliers (+136) at Detroit Pistons (-162) | O/U 215.5 (-112/-108)
Both the Cavaliers and the Pistons needed seven games to advance out of the first round, so that makes it a little difficult to handicap this series. For Game 1, let’s take it easy, and let the series develop a little.
Cleveland pulled away in the second half of Game 7 against the Toronto Raptors for a 114-102 win, covering as an 8.5-point favorite to snap an 0-4 against the spread (ATS) skid. The over cashed in the final three games of the series, too, while going 5-2 in the first-round set.
Donovan Mitchell averaged 23.1 points per game to lead the Cavs in the series, while averaging 4.9 rebounds per game and three assists per game. James Harden was right on his heels, averaging 20.6 points per game, while Evan Mobley went for 18.1 points per game, a team-best 8.6 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game and one block per game. Jarrett Allen came up huge in Game 7 with 22 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks, while averaging 11.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
For Detroit, it fell into a 3-1 series hole before rattling off three consecutive victories over the Orlando Magic. The Pistons won the final two games of the series by an average of 18 points, with each victory by 14+ points. After going 1-4 ATS in the first five games, the Pistons also covered the final two installments. The under had a 4-3 edge in the series, with the over-under splitting 2-2 in four home games.
These teams met four times in the regular season, splitting the series 2-2 straight up (SU), with each team winning once on the other’s court, and the Cavaliers were 3-1 ATS in the series. The under cashed in three of the four meetings, too.
This is the fifth-ever meeting in the postseason between these Central Division neighbors. The Cavaliers swept a four-game set in the most recent meeting in 2016. We’ll back the Pistons to get the job done in Game 1, and let’s go low on the total.
Picks: Pistons -3.5 (-104) & Under 215.5 Points (-108)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe