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NBA Picks: Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics

by Alexander Banks on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

NBA Picks: Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics The two best teams in the Eastern Conference meet on Wednesday night as the Boston Celtics host the Detroit Pistons. Boston has dominated the league so far this season and is looking to win their 10^th straight on Wednesday. The Celtics are doing it on offense with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. They are also doing it with defense as they lead the league in scoring defense and opponents' field goal percentage. SBG Global reports that early NBA betting has the public taking Celtics at Home.

NBA Betting Preview
Detroit Pistons (17-7) at Boston Celtics (20-2)
Wednesday, 7:05 pm Eastern – ESPN

SBG Global Opening Line: Celtics - 6 , Total 181.5

"Our philosophy is that defense is going to win games for us," said Garnett, "We're trying to have the defense fuel the offense, and it's been working."

Boston is making history with every win. Only two teams in NBA history have started a season better than the Celtics after 22 games. They were the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets who both started 21-1. The Celtics won their 9^th straight on Sunday, 90-77 at Toronto. Pierce scored 18 points, Garnett had 16 and Boston clamped down on Toronto. Boston will be trying for their 10^th straight win against Detroit. The Celtics haven't won 10 straight since 1986. "When you get 12 guys committed and on the same page, night in and night out, anything is possible," Pierce said. "That's what we have right now."

SBG Global Current Line: Celtics - 6 , Total 181.5

Ray Allen has missed the past two games with a sore right ankle. He is expected to be available on Wednesday. "He looked great. He was standing next to me most of the practice, so he looked phenomenal," head coach Doc Rivers said, "He didn't do much, we didn't want him to do a lot of cutting and running. He said he feels great." Allen sat out the last two games and has had four days to rest his ankle. "At this point, when I go out on the floor, I want to do what I expect my body to do at all times. I feel confident in my body, and I think taking the time off gave me that confidence even more," Allen said, "In just the last week and a half, [it affected] my lift, having that little bit of joint pain in my ankle and not having that lift like I wanted to. A lot of my shots felt good and they've been coming up short."

Boston has lost their last eight games against Detroit and 13 of the last 14. The difference now is that Boston has a real team. It should be a good test though on Wednesday for the Celtics. Boston is the only team with a better record than Detroit. "They've been in Game 7s where they've lost, they've been in championship games, they've lost some heartbreakers, they've been in Eastern Conference Finals Game 7s, every imaginable situation, they've been in. We haven't. We've been in nothing.” Rivers said.

It could be an excellent defensive game since the Pistons rank second in the NBA in scoring defense and margin of victory behind Boston. This is the first meeting of the season between the teams. Detroit has won nine of eleven overall, holding opponents to 87.7 points in the streak. Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and Antonio McDyess had 14 points in Sunday’s 109-87 win over Golden State.

Here are the NBA betting stats for Wednesday’s game. The Pistons are 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 Wednesday games. The Pistons are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 road games. The Pistons are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Pistons are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. the Eastern Conference. The Pistons are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 vs. the Atlantic. The Pistons are 16-7-1 ATS in their last 24 games as a road underdog. The Pistons are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning home record. The underdog is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings between the two teams and the road team is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

The Celtics are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 vs. the Eastern Conference. The Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite. The Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Celtics are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games as a home favorite.

The Under is 4-0 in the Pistons last 4 Wednesday games. The Under is 4-1 in the Pistons last 5 vs. the Atlantic. The Under is 4-1 in the Pistons last 5 overall. The Over is 9-3 in the Pistons last 12 road games. The Under is 47-20-1 in the Pistons last 68 games as a road underdog. The Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings between the two teams.