With Brandon Ingram (knee) out, CJ McCollum is in line for an increased role down the stretch. When Ingram was out Friday against the Heat, McCollum posted 30 points, five rebounds and seven assists over 35 minutes. Ingram has missed seven total games this season. One of them McCollum didn’t play in, and another he left early with an injury. In each of the other five games, he finished with at least 30 combined points, rebounds and assists. He even had at least 40 combined points, rebounds and assists in four of those games. Add that to the Pistons having the fourth-worst defensive rating in the league and I like McCollum to reach this over.

This is a very tough spot for Jaden Ivey and the Pistons against arguably the hottest team in the league at the moment in the Pelicans. New Orleans is playing a suffocating style of defense and have held 9 of their previous 12 opponents to under 106 points. They've also been playing at an extremely slow pace with minimal possessions. Jaden Ivey who is a volume scorer is really struggling from the field this month shooting 41% and just 22% from the perimeter. There is no tougher matchup in the league right now for opposing guards and there is some significant blowout potential here as well.

NO is 7-3 ATS this season when favored by 6.5+ on the road (most are huge blowouts). Of the Pels last 10 wins, 8 are by 13+. Pistons have lost 5 in row by: 27, 19, 25, 3 and 13. Pels 9-3 ATS last 12 and 6-2 ATS last 8 on road. NO +12.1 on road since ASG, 2nd to BOS and DEN distant 3rd at 9.3). DET -6.1 (25th) at home since ASG. NO 2nd in net rating on road since ASG, 4th in reb%, 4th in effective FG%. Even without Ingram I project them to pull away in second half like they did Fri at Miami. NO making playoff push while Pistons falling hard after a brief spurt where they were performing better.