Detroit Pistons vs. Los Angeles Lakers Betting Pick: Can Jaden Ivey Produce Against the Lakers?
Detroit Pistons vs. Los Angeles Lakers Betting Pick: Can Jaden Ivey Produce Against the Lakers?
The Detroit Pistons continue their road trip tonight as they stay in LA after losing to the Clippers 112–106 on Saturday. The Pistons had won back-to-back games before they lost the Clippers and they now take on a Los Angeles Lakers team that has found some form. The Lakers have won four of their last five games after beating the New Orleans Pelicans 139–122 on Friday. Both teams have extended rest coming into this game and the Pistons are hefty 11-point underdogs. What should we expect in this game?
PISTONS VS. LAKERSÂ DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date:Â February 13, 2024
- Game Time: 10:30 pm ET
- Where to Watch:Â NBA League Pass
DETROIT PISTONS VS. LOS ANGELES LAKERS PREDICTION
The player I am targeting tonight is Jaden Ivey. The second-year guard out of Purdue was taken fifth overall in the 2022 draft and is having a better second year in the NBA. While his scoring is almost a point down on average from last year, I feel like he is a better overall player and is finding his way in the NBA. We were targeting Jaden Ivey a lot while Cade Cunningham was injured, but even with Cunningham back and healthy and Marcus Sasser playing well now too, I still like Ivey in this spot tonight. Ivey is averaging 15.5 points per game with 32 starts in 48 games this season. However, Ivey has pretty much secured his spot as the starter now that the Pistons have traded Bojan Bogdanovich and Alec Burks. With those two gone, the starting spot should be Ivey's for the time being until he proves otherwise.
Backing him up is the new trade acquisition Quentin Grimes, but Grimes is out with a knee injury for the time being. That means Ivey should not only start but get decent minutes. Ivey is averaging 27.9 minutes per game this season, but he’s averaging over 30 as a starter. His season average is also 15.5 points per game, but that goes up to 17.9 points per game when he starts. He is also been very hot as of late. Ivey is having the best start to any month of his short four-year career so far, as he is scoring 26.4 points per game to start February. Over this five-game stretch, he is shooting 60% from three and 51% from the field overall. He has also gone to the line more and has been more aggressive in his play.
Ivey's points line tonight is 21.5, a line he has hit in four out of five games in February so far, but I am targeting is points+rebounds prop tonight as the Lakers do not give up many rebounds to big men, leaving a hole for Ivey to get some boards tonight. His points+rebounds line is just 24.5, and he has averaged four rebounds per game this year and should have even more than that tonight. The Lakers are giving up the third-most points to shooting guards per game and tenth most rebounds. Ivey should continue to stay hot tonight and pass this line of 24.5 points+rebounds with ease.
DETROIT PISTONS VS. LOS ANGELES LAKERS Betting PICK
3 Unit Pick: Jaden Ivey Over 24.5 Points+Rebounds -125 CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH SPORTSBOOK HAS THE BEST ODDS
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Article Author
Ben Rajavuori is a handicapper out of Minneapolis, MN. He has been creating sports content for almost four years now and is an expert in all things NFL, MLB, NBA, UFC, and NCAAB. Ben thrives on diving deep into statistics to find the best angle on every bet. You can follow him on Twitter @WeBeatTheSpread.