NY Knicks vs DET Pistons Prediction & Picks, Plus Player Props & Betting Splits for Game 6

By Sascha Paruk in NBA Basketball
Published:

- The Detroit Pistons try to avoid elimination for the second straight game on Thursday night against the New York Knicks
- The Pistons are slight home favorites in Game 6 on May 1st
- See the Knicks vs Pistons predictions, player-prop picks, and best available odds for Game 6
The Detroit Pistons (44-38, 22-19 home) earned a massive road upset on Tuesday (106-103) to stay alive in their best-of-seven series with the New York Knicks (51-31, 24-17 away). Still trailing 3-2, Detroit faces another must-win scenario as the series shifts back to the Motor City for Game 6 on Thursday night.
New York and Detroit will tip-off at 7:40 pm ET from Little Caesars Arena and the Knicks/Pistons Game 6 odds slightly favor the home team by 1.5 points. Below, seem my Knicks vs Pistons picks and predictions for tonight’s game, followed by the full list of NYK/DET player props, the best available Knicks vs Pistons odds (spread, moneyline and total) and, finally, the NBA public betting splits for Game 6 between New York and Detroit.
New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons Prediction & Picks
- Pistons moneyline (-120) at BetMGM
- Duren over 12.5 rebounds (-110) at DraftKings
- Brunson under 28.5 points (-120) at bet365

My Knicks vs Pistons picks for Game 6 start with the Detroit moneyline and then target two player props: Jalen Duren over 12.5 rebounds and Jalen Brunson under 28.5 points.
One of the huge questions heading into Game 6 is the health and availability of Knicks’ guards Jalen Brunson (26.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 7.3 APG in regular season) and Josh Hart (13.6 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 5.9 APG), who both left Game 5 late with injuries. But neither are on the New York injury report ahead of Game 6; indeed, the Knicks’ injury report doesn’t list a single name.
But that doesn’t mean they will be 100%, especially Brunson, who’s been fighting through minor knocks all series long. The wear-and-tear finally seemed to catch up with New York’s leading scorer in Game 6, when he had just 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting. He’d scored 30-plus in every other game in the series.
Cade Cunningham’s aggressiveness was arguably the biggest difference-maker in the must-win Game 5 for Detroit. The Pistons point guard was just 6-of-17 from the floor but got to the free-throw line 12 times, knocking down 11 and finishing with a game-high 24 points. The Pistons were on the wrong end of an egregious no-foul call at the end of Game 4 which likely would have tied the series. It’s reasonable to assume they’ll get some favorable officiating the rest of the way.
With two of the Knicks stars potentially less than 100% and Detroit returning home with all the momentum, I’m targeting the Pistons to win at -120, Brunson to stay under his point total of 28.5, and Detroit center Jalen Duren to keep mopping up on the glass (over 12.5 rebounds).
Duren is only averaging 11.6 RPG in the series as a whole, but he had 17 boards in Game 4 and 14 last time out in Game 5, including seven at the offensive end. If Cade keeps driving to the hoop – which head coach JB Bickerstaff should absolutely be imploring him to do – Duren will continue to be the benefactor of more offensive rebound chances.
NYK vs DET Player Props
NBA player props from DraftKings on May 1st.
Jalen Brunson (29.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 8.4 APG in playoffs) leads the point totals again at 28.5 O/U, though that’s down two points from his O/U mots games in this series. As mentioned, Brunson left Game 5 with an ankle injury and only logged a series-low 36 minutes in the 106-103 loss, going an ugly 4-of-16 from the field with 16 points, seven assists, three rebounds, and four turnovers. Brunson was averaging 33.3 PPG heading into Game 5.
Cade Cunningham (25.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 8.8 APG) leads the Pistons players with a point total of 27.5 O/U. Cade has only eclipsed 27.5 points once in the series (Detroit’s 100-94 Game 2 win on the road, when he had 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the floor.
Knicks vs Pistons Odds (Best Available Prices)
Odds as of 12:30 pm ET, May 1st. See how to claim an online casino bonus.
The Knicks/Pistons spread is currently Detroit -1.5 across the board but there are some slight variations in price. Knicks ATS bettors can get NYK +1.5 at -105 at Caesars while Pistons ATS bettors can get DET -1.5 at -107 at ESPN Bet.
On the moneyline, bet365m, BetMGM, and DraftKings are offering the best Detroit moneyline at -120. Caesars has the longest odds on a NYK victory at +105.
The total is uniformly 213.5 at this point. Over bettors can get the best odds (-105) at Caesars while under bettors can find the best price (-104) at ESPN .
New York Knicks/Detroit Pistons Public-Betting Splits
Thursday’s NBA public betting splits show some strong betting trends for NYK/DET Game 6 tonight. The public’s favorite wager tonight is over 213.5, which is getting 90% of game-total handle on 88% of the tickets.
The public is also hammering the Knicks’ moneyline at +105, putting 84% of handle on New York to win straight-up on just 61% of the moneyline tickets.
The public is also leaning to the Knicks against the spread, but not as heavily; so far, 55% of ATS handle and 60% of ATS wagers are on New York +1.5.
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Managing Editor
Sascha has been working in the sports-betting industry since 2014, and quickly paired his strong writing skills with a burgeoning knowledge of probability and statistics. He holds an undergraduate degree in linguistics and a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia.