Pistons vs. Thunder prediction and odds for Wednesday, March 29 (Back OKC)

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Luguentz Dort. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Luguentz Dort. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Oklahoma City Thunder took a tough loss on Tuesday night against the Charlotte Hornets, who have kept playing spoiler in the Western Conference playoff race.

However, OKC has a prime bounce-back spot against the tanking Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

Detroit has lost six straight games with five of those losses coming by 12 or more points. That’s important since OKC is an 11.5-point favorite in this game.

The key for the Thunder will be whether or not star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is able to play on Wednesday after missing last night’s matchup with an ankle injury.

The Thunder are the No. 10 seed in the West, and they need every win they can get to stay alive in the league’s play-in tournament.

Let’s dive into the odds and a pick for this game:

Pistons vs. Thunder odds, spread and total

Pistons vs. Thunder prediction and pick

Detroit has covered the spread just three times in its last 12 games, and the team has been brutal as a road underdog, going 15-19-2 ATS and losing those games by an average margin of over 10 points.

It’s hard to say that the Thunder are a great bet with SGA’s status up in the air, but I lean towards them much more than the Pistons for more than just the star power.

This season, OKC ranks 10th in the NBA in defensive rating and 12th in net rating, showing that it has a true profile of a playoff-caliber team.

Meanwhile, the Pistons are 28th in the NBA in offensive, defensive and net rating this season, the profile you’d expect from the team with the worst record in the NBA.

Detroit has been in tank mode for weeks, sitting veterans like Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, and I don’t see the Pistons hanging with a Thunder team that needs to win on Wednesday night.

If SGA does play, this is a great bet on OKC.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.