Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Vegas Play of the Day: Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks

We've reset the Play of the Day with fresh bankrolls and turned it into a yearly competition. Our three sports writers have re-started with $10,000 bankrolls to continue using on odds from the South Point.

Detroit Pistons plus-7 at Atlanta Hawks: $330 to win $300

Count me in for some NBA action, which I’m hoping can reverse a five-month free-fall in the Play of the Day. The Detroit Pistons should be able to help.

They look like a bet-on team early in the season. Detroit was a decent against-the-spread team last season, going 42-40 versus the number, despite obvious growing pains throughout a 32-50 straight-up campaign in coach Stan Van Gundy’s first year.

But Van Gundy’s been open all offseason about inheriting a roster that didn’t fit his system. The veteran coach was able to tinker more before his second season, and it should yield better results.

Youngsters Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond are ready to be the focal point of the offense, while acquisitions of Marcus Morris and Ersan Ilyasova were underrated. Atlanta’s moves, meanwhile, may add up to more of a net negative.

Tiago Splitter was a nice addition, but losing DeMarre Carroll to Toronto hurts.

Part of the Hawks’ magic was having an above-average starter at every position, but Carroll’s replacement Kent Bazemore has been decidedly mediocre through three years in the league.

Everything went right for the Hawks to finish 60-22 straight-up, 50-30-2 against the spread last season. Some of the breaks will go against them this year. The Pistons may benefit.

Current Standings (as of July 1): Brewer (20-14, $11,760), Bern (13-15, $9,600), Keefer (11-25-2, $4,261)

Lifetime standings: 2014-15 Champion Bern (94-88-1), Brewer (89-101-2), Keefer (95-109-4)

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy