Vegas Play of the Day: Detroit Pistons at Minnesota Timberwolves

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014 | 11:33 a.m.

I’m stuck here wondering if my month-long slide in the Play of the Day, which uses odds from South Point and a $10,000 starting bankroll, will ever end.

It’s back to the NBA for another futile attempt at getting back in the black at some point this year.

Detroit Pistons plus-6 at Minnesota Timberwolves: $330 to win $300

Minnesota shouldn’t give six points to the vast majority of the NBA — certainly including a well-coached, decently talented Detroit team on the rise.

The Pistons are bound to work their way back to respectability this season under new coach Stan Van Gundy. The Timberwolves will go through some growing pains with an unfamiliar core, including shooting-averse Ricky Rubio and young back-to-back No. 1 picks Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins.

Neither of those positions held up on Wednesday, however, as Minnesota gave Memphis all it could handle and covered the plus-7.5 point spread in a 105-101 loss. Detroit was less inspiring, shooting 37 percent and falling 89-79 in Denver as 6.5-point underdogs.

It’s important not to overreact to one game, though. Detroit played well in some regards, including defense, where it limited Denver to 35 percent shooting.

The Pistons are downgraded because Greg Monroe is serving the second night of a two-game suspension for driving while impaired, but his absence isn’t as significant as another team missing their starting power forward. With Josh Smith and Andre Drummond also in starting roles, the Pistons have a bottleneck in the paint when they’re all playing together.

As long as they rebound competitively with the Timberwolves, which out-boarded the Grizzlies by 14 in the opener, the Pistons will stay within the number.

Standings: Bern (50-46-1, $10,721), Keefer (45-53, $7,641), Brewer (44-52-3, $3,755)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.