The full NBA schedule for the 2019-20 season is out. While that’s a reason for fans to start looking forward to late October, it hasn’t affected the Detroit Pistons NBA Finals odds.
The Pistons’ schedule reveals some opportunities they need to seize if they are to improve on last season. Those include early dates against division rivals and later dates against other Eastern Conference playoff contenders.
How the schedule affects the current Pistons odds
With the NBA preseason a few weeks away, the Pistons are gearing up for what they hope will be a deeper postseason run. Detroit finished at exactly .500 and nabbed the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference last season.
The Milwaukee Bucks immediately eliminated the Pistons in a sweep. The 2019-20 season gives Detroit an opportunity to position itself better for the playoffs.
The Pistons have some early opportunities to improve their odds of postseason glory. Detroit faces Central Division contender Indiana four times in its first 23 games, and the Pacers figure to be without their best player in Victor Oladipo for much of that time.
The Pistons won’t see Indiana again in the season, so they have a great chance to get a leg up on the Pacers. November brings chances to get a win against Milwaukee — something Detroit failed to do last season — and also to grab wins that could be important for playoff seeding against the Orlando Magic.
If the Pistons are successful in those games, their championship odds could improve. Right now the books are unwavering about their opinions.
Breaking down the early Pistons futures
While none of the books are high on Detroit being a serious contender in the East, there is one book that is posting odds far longer than the others.
Las Vegas has the Pistons 300/1 to win the 2020 NBA Finals and 120/1 to be the Eastern Conference’s representative in those finals. Other legal sportsbooks like Detroit about the same.
- DraftKings and SugarHouse currently have the Pistons +15000 to win the next Finals.
- PointsBet lists them +20000
- FanDuel has them +21000.
- William Hill has the best line at +25000, and that’s the case on a lot of Detroit futures.
William Hill slots the Pistons at +10000 to win the East, which is better than the +8000 at the four other books mentioned in the last paragraph. Odds on Detroit winning the Central Division are another example of William Hill’s outlier status.
While the other books have the Pistons +1400 or +3000 to win the Central, William Hill pegs them at +10000 to do the same. On win expectancy, William Hill is within the expected range, however.
All five of the aforementioned books have the over/under on wins for Detroit at either 36.5 or 37.5.
While betting on sports in Michigan remains illegal pending the resolution of disputes between members of the state government, Michiganders will soon be able to cross the border to take part in sports betting in Indiana.
If the Pistons can make an early-season run to establish themselves, those odds may improve.
