Magic vs. Pistons Game 7 Best Bets Featuring Cade Cunningham, More

After taking an alarming 11-point home loss at Game 1, J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad has recorded wins of 15, seven and 14 points in the series while also taking a pair of close defeats of eight and six points. Despite their struggles earlier in the series, the Pistons are now favored by 8.5 points in Sunday’s game.

With the Magic missing Franz Wagner (calf) once again and also posting a -0.9-point average scoring margin on the road since the start of the season, using FanDuel’s Alt. Spread feature to coax the Pistons’ projected advantage down by a full five points is a very effective first leg.

For our second leg, we’ll focus on the heart and soul of the Pistons, that being star point guard Cade Cunningham. The 2021 first overall pick has unsurprisingly been a central figure in the Pistons’ furious series rally, averaging 45.3 points + rebounds + assists across 40.5 minutes per contest during the entirety of the series.

Cunningham was particularly locked in during the Pistons’ consecutive elimination scenarios in Games 5 and 6, when he put up 49.5 points + rebounds + assists over 43.0 minutes per contest while shooting 50.0%, including a blistering 58.3% from behind the arc.

That gives him quite the hot hand coming into Sunday’s showdown, and the last time he was on his home floor, he contributed 54 points + rebounds + assists over 44 minutes of court time. Then, in three regular-season games against the Magic, Cunningham also enjoyed plenty of success, averaging 51.7 points + rebounds + assists across 37.0 minutes per contest.

Consequently, we’ll roll with a bet on Cunningham getting to at least 40 points + rebounds + assists in the critical matchup for our second leg, a figure he’s proven amply capable of eclipsing against Orlando.

Finally, we’ll turn to the Magic side for our third and final leg and focus on their most important offensive player and a one-time first overall pick himself, Paolo Banchero. The star forward has plenty to atone for in Sunday’s Game 7, considering he went just 4-for-20 from the field, including 0-for-9 from three-point range, in Friday’s Game 6 meltdown that saw the Magic blow what was a 62-38 early third-quarter lead.

However, Banchero had plenty of success earlier in the series, lending credence to the notion he could see a resurgence in the high-stakes clash. Banchero had averaged 34.6 points + rebounds in Games 1-5 while shooting an impressive 38.5% from three-point range in the process, per RotoWire. He also went 3-2 to the 30+ points + rebounds figure in that span, but Sunday, he’ll be taking the floor without Franz Wagner (calf).

Per RotoWire’s On/Off Court Tool, Banchero boasts a team-high 29.2% usage rate with Wagner off the floor since the start of the regular season, and he also produced points + rebounds totals of 35, 35 and 36 in three regular-season meetings against the Pistons. Then, it’s also worth noting how effective Banchero has been on the glass despite the tough matchup posed by Detroit in that regard – he’s converting 57.4% of his 15.7 rebounding opportunities per contest in the series.

Consequently, a bet on Banchero getting to that 30 points + rebounds mark is an excellent third leg to wrap up a parlay that should have plenty of viability as long as the game remains competitive.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com