Bet on low scoring game when the 76ers and Pistons face off on Tuesday

The Philadelphia 76ers have just three games left in their regular season including Tuesday’s matchup with the Detroit Pistons. The 76ers are still in a position to move out of the play-in tournament with wins and Indiana Pacers losses. The Pistons are in position to finish 15th in the Eastern Conference.

As for Tuesday’s game specifically, the only bet I like is the under on total points. The best odds and market come from FanDuel, where these teams scoring under 221.5 points has odds of -110.

As of the time of publish, the injury report for this game is ugly. Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris (Who combine for 39.9 points per game) are out. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Kyle Lowry are all questionable for the 76ers.

It’s no wonder the Pistons are the underdogs they are, as Jaden Ivey is their leading scorer. I like Ivey’s potential, but he’s still a raw player with a lot of limitations. Jalen Duren is their best player in my opinion, as he’s a beast on the boards and shoots efficiently.

After those two (Who combine for 29.1 points per game), the rest of their starting five in Malachi Flynn, Troy Brown Jr., and Tosan Evbuomwan combine for just 15.7 points per game. This is as inexperienced and talent poor lineup as there is in the NBA right now.

As for the 76ers, their injury situation as of the time of publish makes it difficult to project who plays and who doesn’t. As it relates to total points, Lowry’s 8.3 points per game ranks as the least important of the three questionable designations.

Embiid and Maxey are two of the most lethal scorers in the league at 34.7 and 25.9 points per game, respectively. All it takes is one of them being absent for offense to become much harder to come by for a team that ranks 15th in scoring.

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No matter who suits up for the 76ers, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in where they drop this game. But their -1600 moneyline isn’t worth betting on due to the price. At full strength I easily back Philly to cover 15.5 points, but the injuries make me shy away from the spread.

Outside of Duren being able to pick on the 76ers if Embiid doesn’t play, I don’t see anything Detroit has that they can use to their advantage offensively other than praying Ivey has a good shooting day.

The problem there is how streaky Ivey is (23 percent from three in March after shooting 43 percent in February). I simply don’t trust anyone else to hit shots, as Flynn has especially proven his recent 50 point game was a fluke by shooting just 1-19 in his last two outings.

But if the likes of Cameron Payne, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Buddy Hield end up having to shoot a ton of shots, I don’t trust them to be consistent either. When you add everything up, you have a recipe for an ugly game that easily finishes with a score lower than 221.5 points.

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