When the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons square of on Monday, at the start of the Week 7, it will be a clash between two best Eastern Conference teams. It would be fair that even the last year’s semifinalists weren’t supposed to be at this level, but that especially true for the Motown team that failed to even reach the postseason. It will also be a great opportunity for Boston faithfuls to greet longtime fan favorite Avery Bradley who was traded to Detroit this summer.
Pistons at Celtics
Spread: Boston -6.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 198.5 points (-110)
The Pistons win in OKC, 99-98
The Pistons got a lucky bounce from Westbrook’s last-second shot and came out on top of a tightly contested encounter with the Oklahoma City Thunder, prevailing 98-99 on the road. It was another good victory for this team, and they are behaving like they belong to the top.
Trailing by as much as ten points in the first half, and by 15 in early portions of the second, the Detroit Pistons used their defense and team versatility to climb back and take the first lead early in the final frame. Two sides would go back and forth the rest of the way, and the game could’ve gone either way. Avery Bradley hit a big three to give the Pistons lead for the last time, finally hitting one after missing each of the previous five. Neither him, or Tobias Harris managed to get it going, as suspected, struggling to find good looks. Instead, it was Andre Drummond who lead the way with 17 points and 14 rebounds, adding four dimes and two swats. Ish Smith also added 15 points off the bench, including a heave to end the first quarter. Jackson played within the system, not trying to do too much against former team – he and Johnson combined for 23 points, hitting 5 threes among them. The Pistons shot 46.4 percent, a very decent number on the road, and had hit 14-of-37 three-pointers. Not all was going well on the offensive end though. The Stones committed way too many turnovers and could only earn a few trips to the free throw line. They did the best part on the defensive end, holding City to 43 percent shooting, 8-of-32 on deep shots, and did so without fouling and giving up easy points from the charity stripe. Westbrook did get a triple-double, but highly inefficient one and Paul George and Carmelo Anthony wouldn’t fare much better either. The Thunder played their starters heavy minutes, needing the game badly, but the Pistons showed enough resiliency to get the win number 12.
Only Leuer didn’t play, but he’s been out for a longer period and Detroit didn’t miss him in the rotation. This is the sixth game the Pistons are playing in the sixth different city over the past twelve games, so they might be a bit road wary.
Place: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Date/Time: Monday, November 27th, 2017. 7:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: NBCSB, FS Detroit
Boston on a pace to win 70 games
Back-to-back against a couple of teams they might see in the first round of playoffs wouldn’t bother the Boston Celtics. Playing more relaxed after their long win streak was snapped in Miami, the Green army disposed off Orlando at home in an impressive fashion on Friday and carved another W in Indiana the next day.
The Celtics came from behind again, but wouldn’t dig a large hole in this one. After the reserves turned deuce to ten point deficit, the Celtics trailed by 9 at the half. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris were missing from the lineup so Smart and Theis started the game, giving the Celtics size and some defense in the middle, but it left the bench short of offense, except for usually active Rozier. The Celtics responded with a great third quarter, winning 37-16 this period, as the second unit made up for their mistake from the first half. They held a double-digit lead from that point forward, cruising to another victory. Kyrie Irving was the high point man with 25 points, and Horford followed with 21 of his own. Both guys distributed the ball well, gathering 6 assists apiece in the process. Smart was incredibly efficient (7-of-8 FGs) for his standard, scoring 15 points. Tatum and Rozier combined for another 28. Nice spread out the contribution from the Celtics, who shot 56.2 percent from the field, connecting on 40 percent of their tries from beyond the arc. They could have done a better job defensively in the first half, considering the Indiana played without Oladipo, but they did control two things the Pacers hurt their opposition – three pointers and fast break points.
Brown attended the funeral of a friend and wasn’t able to re-join the Celtics in time to play in the last game, but he’ll be there for this game. Morris also did not travel to Indy, as the Celtics decided to give him a game off to rest and heal. He should be able to return to his usual bench role and will probably be pumped up to play his old team. The Celtics are spending next 11 days at home, as this is a start of a 5-game homestand.
Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics Game Trends & Prediction
The Pistons are unable to string more than two ATS wins recently but have still pulled out more payouts than not. They went 6-3-1 in the last ten games and 12-5-1 overall. A big part of what they are doing came on the road, where Detroit managed to cover in 7 of the nine games played. They also tend to play well in Boston, going 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings there. They are 8-10 against the total points lines, after each of the last five games stayed below the expectation.
The Celtics continued their exquisite ATS season, bringing gold in both games after the loss to Miami. They went 8-1-1 over the last ten games and 17-3-1 for the season. At home, the Celts are 7-1-1. The books can catch up with their progress. They did manage to balance out the O/U record of the Boston Celtics – after five consecutive overs, it stands at 10-11 now, 4-5 in the Garden.
Admi-Rank: The Celtics are able to maintain their high level responding nicely to the first loss in a month. The Pistons are consistently inconsistent, over the last week or so, slightly ruining the picture they’ve painted prior to it.
Kudos to what Stan Van Gundy managed to do with this group. Bringing in Bradley was a great move from a team chemistry standpoint, and spills over to the court. However, the Pistons have better results than their game is, and the fortunes will probably start turning. The Celtics are on a different level and should have no problem winning this game. I suspect that the game will be played at a slower pace. Boston team have been able to adjust and play differently, while the Pistons aren’t too keen of running and gunning, so don’t expect too many points to be scored.
The total points line has been set to 198.5, even below my own estimations (201), so the books have clearly recognized this thinking. It would be very hard to justify going over the line, but if the market would go after the negative value, we may be forced to hit on the plus side, but I don’t see it happening. I’m coming your way with the home side wager here. The Celtics have been set as a 6.5-point favorite, and despite the respect for Pistons’ away results, I find it too low. Let’s just keep riding with the Celtics until they stop giving.
My Pick: Boston -6.5 (-110)
Total: (no wager on the total points, min target over 196.5 -105)
