NBA Picks 3/5 – Detroit @ San Antonio

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

Two of the top three teams in the NBA face off tonight in what could be an NBA Finals preview as the Eastern Conference leading Detroit Pistons (45-15) visit the surging San Antonio Spurs (44-17, second in the Western Conference) tonight at Frost Bank Center. This is the second and final regular season meeting between the teams. San Antonio picked up a 114-103 win at Detroit in the first matchup just nine days ago on Feb. 23.

San Antonio has won nine in a row at their official home (Frost Bank Arena) against Detroit, but the Pistons did defeat the Spurs last season in a game played at Austin, Texas that was considered a home game for the Spurs. 

San Antonio is a 3-point favorite and the total is 227.5.

WHAT BOTH TEAMS DID IN THEIR PREVIOUS GAME

Detroit suffered a 113-109 setback at Cleveland on Tuesday night. The Cavs were able to knock off the Pistons without their injured superstar Donovan Mitchell — who missed his fourth straight game with a groin strain. The loss halted Detroit’s 6-game road winning streak. 

Jalen Duran scored a game-high 24 points (7-9 FG, 10-14 FT) and pulled down 14 rebounds in 27 minutes for Detroit. Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham struggled from the field scoring just 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting, but dished out 14 assists. Tobias Harris scored all 19 of his points in the second half. 

San Antonio walloped Philadelphia 131-91 on the road in front of a nationally televised audience (NBC) on Tuesday night. San Antonio broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the 76ers 46-28 to took a 78-53 lead into halftime. San Antonio’s onslaught continued after the intermission as they outscored Philadelphia 35-11 in the third quarter and led by 49 (113-64) heading into the fourth quarter. It was the third time the 76ers lost a home game by 40 or more points, which set an NBA record. 

Devin Vassell and rookie Dylan Harper each scored a team-high 22 points for San Antonio in the lopsided victory. All-World center Victor Wembanyama only scored 10 points (3-5 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 3-5 FT) but stuffed the stat sheet with 8 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists and 3 steals across 24 minutes. The Spurs connected on 18 three-pointers against the 76ers.

San Antonio’s victory at Philadelphia concluded a 5-game road trip — they finished 4-1. Tonight’s game against Detroit begins a 6-game home stand that runs through March 14. The Spurs have won 12 of their last 13 games.  

GAME STORYLINES: DETROIT

Two seasons ago (2023-24), the Detroit Pistons finished 14-68, which was their worst record in franchise history and one of the worst records for a team in NBA history. Last season, Detroit pulled off a remarkable turnaround finishing 44-38 — a 30-game improvement over the 2023-24 season. Detroit’s 44 wins was their most since the 2015-16 season when they also finished 44-38. 

Detroit earned the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and lost to the third-seeded New York Knicks 4-2 in a heated, hard-fought first-round series. Three of Detroit’s four losses to New York in that series were by 3 points or fewer. Detroit’s youth and lack of playoff experience were glaring in late-game situations against the playoff-tested Knicks. 

After last season’s stunning turnaround — where they increased their win total by 30 games, the 2025-26 Detroit Pistons came out on fire as they started the season 15-2. They won 13 straight games from Oct. 29 through Nov. 14, which tied a franchise record held by the 1989-90 and 2003-04 squads. Both of those teams went on to win the NBA title. Detroit has remained one of the best teams in the NBA for the entire season. They own the best record in the Eastern Conference and the second-best record in the NBA at 45-15. 

The catalyst for Detroit’s success is the play of superstar guard Cade Cunningham. Last season, the 24-year-old, former No. 1 overall pick (2021) elevated his game to an All-NBA in his fourth year — raising his ppg average from 22.7 to 26.1 — after a somewhat injury-plagued first 3 years in the league. 

Cade Cunningham has maintained that elite level of play this season, averaging 25.2 points, a career-high 9.9 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.9 threes on 45.7 percent shooting from the floor across 54 games. Cunningham was selected as an All-Star for a second straight year. He also has an outside shot to take home the NBA MVP Award due to Detroit’s outstanding record and injuries to front-runners Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, both of whom may not get to the 65 games played mark that a player must attain to garner postseason accolades. 

Emerging center Jalen Duran (18.6 ppg, 10.8 rebs, 63.3% from 2 in 50 gms), veteran forward Tobias Harris (13.3 ppg, 5.2 rebs, 1 stl, 1.3 threes, 45.1% from 2 in 44 gms), sharpshooting swingman Duncan Robinson (12 ppg, 2.7 rebs, 2.9 threes, 39.3% from 3 in 58 gms) and 23-year-old versatile wing Ausar Thompson (10.4 ppg, 6.2 rebs, 3 asts, 52.2% from 2 in 56 gms) are excellent complimentary pieces alongside Cade Cunningham.

The 22-year-old Jalen Duran is experiencing a breakout season in year four. Duran had been a double-double machine for Detroit over the last 2 seasons, but his much-improved offensive game has made him a viable second scoring option behind Cade Cunningham, and one of the top centers in the NBA. He was selected as an All-Star for the first time this year.

GAME STORYLINES: SAN ANTONIO

In May 2023, the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery and obtained the No. 1 overall pick, allowing them to select highly touted 7-foot-5 center Victor Wembanyama. The then-19-year-old French phenom was one of the most ballyhooed prospects in NBA draft history. Many projected immediate success for Wembanyama and the Spurs. Unfortunately, only half of those expectations were achieved through his first two seasons in the NBA.

Victor Wembanyama experienced tremendous individual success during his first two seasons, but the Spurs were not winning games. San Antonio finished 22-60 in Wembanyama’s first season, which was the exact same record they had the season prior to his arrival. But Wembanyama was named the 2023-24 Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game in 71 games. The Spurs finished 34-48 last year (2024-25) as Wembanyama was limited to 46 games due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.  

Despite the underwhelming win/loss record over the first 2 years with Victor Wembanyma, San Antonio made two pivotal moves in 2024 that ended up providing a tremendous boost for the franchise. The first was trading for Sacramento Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox in February 2024. The second was drafting Stephon Castle with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft a few months later. Castle went on to win the 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year award. 

The additions of De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, along with the stellar play of Victor Wemanyama has turned the San Antonio into one of the NBA’s elites this season. The Spurs currently own the third-best record in the NBA at 44-17, and are a serious threat to dethrone the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder (49-15). San Antonio sits 3.5 games behind OKC in the loaded Western Conference, but has gone 4-1 against them this season. 

On the season, Victor Wembanyama is averaging 23.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.9 blocks, 1 steal and 1.7 threes on 50.1 percent shooting from the floor in 47 games. He was named an All-Star for the second straight season. De’Aaron Fox (18.6 ppg, 6.2 asts, 3.8 rebs, 1.2 stls, 1.9 threes, 48.1% from 2 in 52 gms) and Stephon Castle (16.5 ppg, 6.8 asts, 4.9 rebs, 1.5 stls, 1 threes, 46.8& from 2 in 51 gms) have established themselves as a strong 1-2 punch alongside Wembanyama. 

After some early season injuries, the trio of Victor Wemanyama, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle have been relatively healthy over the last few weeks which has coincided with San Antonio’s torrid pace. The Spurs are 13-2 since Jan. 28.

The Big Three of Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle has some similarities to San Antonio’s previous ‘Big 3’ of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili that won 3 championships for the Spurs in 2005, 2007 and 2014. We’ll see whether San Antonio’s current ‘Big 3’ can reach the lofty heights of the franchise’s championship ‘Big 3’ that reigned for 15+ seasons. 

THE PICK: SPURS (-3)

San Antonio currently looks to be in a completely different gear than most of the NBA. I think they make a statement tonight as they return home from a long road trip. Lay the Points and take the Spurs!